<s>
The	O
public	O
history	B-Application
of	I-Application
Gmail	I-Application
dates	O
back	O
to	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Application
,	O
a	O
free	O
,	O
advertising-supported	O
webmail	B-Protocol
service	O
with	O
support	O
for	O
Email	B-Protocol
clients	I-Protocol
,	O
is	O
a	O
product	O
from	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
Over	O
its	O
history	O
,	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
has	O
become	O
integrated	O
with	O
many	O
other	O
products	B-Application
and	I-Application
services	I-Application
from	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
with	O
basic	O
integration	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
Account	I-Application
and	O
specific	O
integration	O
points	O
with	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
Google+	B-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
Calendar	I-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
Drive	I-Application
,	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
,	O
Google	B-Protocol
Meet	I-Protocol
,	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
Google	B-Application
Buzz	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
made	O
available	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
G	B-Application
Suite	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Official	O
Gmail	B-Application
Blog	O
tracks	O
the	O
public	O
history	B-Application
of	I-Application
Gmail	I-Application
from	O
July	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Application
was	O
a	O
project	O
started	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
developer	O
Paul	O
Buchheit	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
already	O
explored	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
web-based	B-Protocol
email	I-Protocol
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
before	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
Hotmail	B-Operating_System
,	O
while	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
personal	O
email	O
software	O
project	O
as	O
a	O
college	O
student	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buchheit	O
began	O
his	O
work	O
on	O
Gmail	B-Application
in	O
August	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
Google	B-Application
,	O
Buchheit	O
had	O
first	O
worked	O
on	O
Google	B-Application
Groups	I-Application
and	O
when	O
asked	O
"	O
to	O
build	O
some	O
type	O
of	O
email	O
or	O
personalization	O
product	O
"	O
,	O
he	O
created	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
in	O
one	O
day	O
,	O
reusing	O
the	O
code	O
from	O
Google	B-Application
Groups	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
when	O
Gmail	B-Application
was	O
being	O
developed	O
,	O
existing	O
email	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Mail	O
and	O
Hotmail	B-Operating_System
featured	O
extremely	O
slow	O
interfaces	O
that	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
plain	O
HTML	O
,	O
with	O
almost	O
every	O
action	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
requiring	O
the	O
server	O
to	O
reload	O
the	O
entire	O
webpage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buchheit	O
attempted	O
to	O
work	O
around	O
the	O
limitations	O
of	O
HTML	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
highly	O
interactive	O
JavaScript	B-Language
code	O
,	O
an	O
approach	O
that	O
ultimately	O
came	O
to	O
be	O
called	O
AJAX	B-General_Concept
(	O
Asynchronous	B-General_Concept
JavaScript	I-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
XML	I-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buchheit	O
recalls	O
that	O
the	O
high	O
volume	O
of	O
internal	O
email	O
at	O
Google	B-Application
created	O
"	O
a	O
very	O
big	O
need	O
for	O
search	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buchheit	O
had	O
been	O
working	O
on	O
Gmail	B-Application
for	O
about	O
a	O
month	O
when	O
he	O
was	O
joined	O
by	O
another	O
engineer	O
,	O
Sanjeev	O
Singh	O
,	O
with	O
whom	O
he	O
would	O
eventually	O
found	O
the	O
social-networking	O
startup	O
FriendFeed	O
after	O
leaving	O
Google	B-Application
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Application
's	O
first	O
product	O
manager	O
,	O
Brian	O
Rakowski	O
,	O
learned	O
about	O
the	O
project	O
on	O
his	O
very	O
first	O
day	O
at	O
Google	B-Application
in	O
2002	O
,	O
fresh	O
out	O
of	O
college	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2003	O
,	O
another	O
new	O
Google	B-Application
recruit	O
,	O
Kevin	O
Fox	O
was	O
assigned	O
the	O
task	O
of	O
designing	O
Gmail	B-Protocol
's	I-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
available	O
only	O
internally	O
as	O
an	O
email	O
system	O
for	O
Google	B-Application
employees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
,	O
the	O
software	O
had	O
been	O
used	O
internally	O
for	O
"	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
years	O
"	O
before	O
it	O
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
development	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
had	O
been	O
a	O
skunkworks	O
project	O
,	O
kept	O
secret	O
even	O
from	O
most	O
people	O
within	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
“	O
It	O
was	O
n’t	O
even	O
guaranteed	O
to	O
launch	O
–	O
we	O
said	O
that	O
it	O
has	O
to	O
reach	O
a	O
bar	O
before	O
it	O
’s	O
something	O
we	O
want	O
to	O
get	O
out	O
there	O
,	O
”	O
says	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
designer	O
Kevin	O
Fox	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
early	O
2004	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
almost	O
everybody	O
at	O
Google	B-Application
was	O
using	O
Gmail	B-Application
to	O
access	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
internal	O
email	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Application
was	O
announced	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
on	O
1	O
April	O
2004	O
,	O
after	O
extensive	O
rumors	O
of	O
its	O
existence	O
during	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Owing	O
to	O
the	O
April	O
Fool	O
's	O
Day	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
press	O
release	O
aroused	O
skepticism	O
in	O
the	O
technology	O
world	O
,	O
especially	O
since	O
Google	B-Application
had	O
been	O
known	O
for	O
making	O
April	O
Fool	O
's	O
jokes	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
PigeonRank	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
they	O
explained	O
that	O
their	O
real	O
joke	O
had	O
been	O
a	O
press	O
release	O
saying	O
that	O
they	O
would	O
take	O
offshoring	O
to	O
the	O
extreme	O
by	O
putting	O
employees	O
in	O
a	O
"	O
Google	B-Application
Copernicus	O
Center	O
"	O
on	O
the	O
Moon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jonathan	O
Rosenberg	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
vice-president	O
of	O
products	O
,	O
was	O
quoted	O
by	O
BBC	O
News	O
as	O
saying	O
,	O
"	O
We	O
are	O
very	O
serious	O
about	O
Gmail.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
when	O
the	O
service	O
was	O
announced	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
did	O
not	O
have	O
the	O
required	O
infrastructure	O
in	O
place	O
to	O
provide	O
millions	O
of	O
users	O
a	O
reliable	O
service	O
with	O
a	O
gigabyte	O
of	O
space	O
apiece	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Application
ran	O
on	O
three	O
hundred	O
old	O
Pentium	B-General_Concept
III	I-General_Concept
computers	O
nobody	O
else	O
at	O
Google	B-Application
wanted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
it	O
became	O
clear	O
that	O
Gmail	B-Application
was	O
real	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
an	O
April	O
Fools	O
 '	O
joke	O
,	O
invitations	O
became	O
highly	O
desired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
hailed	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
marketing	O
decisions	O
in	O
tech	O
history	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
little	O
bit	O
unintentional	O
”	O
says	O
Georges	O
Harik	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
responsible	O
for	O
most	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
new	O
products	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	O
users	O
from	O
the	O
Blogger	B-Application
community	O
were	O
offered	O
the	O
chance	O
to	O
participate	O
in	O
the	O
beta-testing	O
on	O
20	O
April	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
members	O
occasionally	O
received	O
"	O
invitations	O
"	O
which	O
they	O
could	O
send	O
to	O
anyone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Gmail	B-Application
increased	O
the	O
supply	O
of	O
invitations	O
,	O
the	O
nascent	O
buying	O
and	O
selling	O
market	O
for	O
Gmail	B-Application
invitations	O
collapsed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
early	O
months	O
of	O
the	O
initial	O
beta	O
phase	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
's	O
well-publicized	O
feature	O
set	O
and	O
the	O
exclusive	O
nature	O
of	O
the	O
accounts	O
caused	O
the	O
aftermarket	O
price	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
invitations	O
to	O
skyrocket	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
PC	O
World	O
magazine	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
invitations	O
were	O
selling	O
on	O
eBay	B-Application
for	O
as	O
much	O
as	O
US$150	O
,	O
with	O
some	O
accounts	O
being	O
sold	O
for	O
several	O
thousand	O
dollars	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Websites	O
such	O
as	O
Gmail	B-Application
Swap	O
emerged	O
to	O
allow	O
philanthropic	O
Gmail	B-Application
users	O
to	O
donate	O
invitations	O
to	O
people	O
who	O
wanted	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
28	O
June	O
2004	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
amended	O
its	O
policy	O
to	O
forbid	O
the	O
selling	O
of	O
registered	O
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2005	O
,	O
security	O
experts	O
discovered	O
a	O
critical	O
flaw	O
in	O
the	O
handling	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
messages	O
that	O
would	O
allow	O
hackers	O
to	O
easily	O
access	O
private	O
emails	O
from	O
any	O
Gmail	B-Application
user	O
's	O
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
13	O
January	O
2005	O
,	O
developers	O
at	O
Gmail	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
fixed	O
the	O
problem	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
security	O
flaw	O
had	O
been	O
patched	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
Gmail	B-Application
's	O
status	O
as	O
a	O
beta	O
application	O
,	O
concerns	O
were	O
raised	O
among	O
some	O
users	O
who	O
were	O
using	O
Gmail	B-Application
as	O
their	O
primary	O
mail	O
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
1	O
April	O
2005	O
,	O
exactly	O
one	O
year	O
after	O
the	O
initial	O
release	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
increased	O
the	O
mailbox	O
size	O
to	O
2	O
GB	O
,	O
advertising	O
it	O
as	O
"	O
2	O
GB	O
plus	O
"	O
and	O
introduced	O
some	O
other	O
new	O
features	O
,	O
including	O
formatted	O
editing	O
which	O
gave	O
users	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
sending	O
messages	O
in	O
HTML	O
or	O
plain	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
7	O
June	O
2005	O
,	O
The	O
Gmail	B-Application
Invitation	O
Spooler	O
was	O
deactivated	O
by	O
the	O
site	O
owner	O
,	O
following	O
a	O
direct	O
request	O
from	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
product	O
manager	O
to	O
shut	O
it	O
down	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
was	O
featured	O
in	O
Popular	O
Science	O
magazine	O
and	O
had	O
given	O
out	O
over	O
1.2	O
million	O
Gmail	B-Application
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
's	O
canonical	B-Protocol
URI	O
changed	O
from	O
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/	O
to	O
http://mail.google.com/mail/	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
2	O
November	O
2006	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
began	O
offering	O
a	O
mobile-application	O
based	O
version	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
for	O
mobile	O
phones	O
capable	O
of	O
running	O
Java	B-Language
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
gives	O
Gmail	B-Application
its	O
own	O
custom	O
menu	O
system	O
and	O
the	O
site	O
displays	O
attachments	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
photos	O
and	O
documents	O
in	O
the	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
was	O
solely	O
developed	O
in	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
Kitchener	O
office	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
28	O
January	O
2007	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
Docs	I-Application
&	I-Application
Spreadsheets	I-Application
was	O
integrated	O
with	O
Gmail	B-Application
,	O
providing	O
the	O
capability	O
to	O
open	O
attached	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Word	I-Application
DOC	B-Operating_System
files	I-Operating_System
directly	O
from	O
Gmail	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
24	O
October	O
2007	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
IMAP	B-Protocol
was	O
available	O
for	O
all	O
accounts	O
,	O
including	O
Google	B-Application
Apps	I-Application
for	I-Application
your	I-Application
Domain	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
5	O
June	O
2008	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
introduced	O
Gmail	B-Application
Labs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
8	O
December	O
2008	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
added	O
a	O
to-do	O
list	O
to	O
Gmail	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
new	O
Tasks	O
feature	O
is	O
enabled	O
,	O
a	O
box	O
shows	O
up	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
12	O
December	O
2008	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
added	O
support	O
for	O
PDF	B-Application
viewing	O
within	O
the	O
browser	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
24	O
February	O
2009	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
suffered	O
a	O
two	O
and	O
a	O
half	O
hour	O
outage	O
,	O
affecting	O
100	O
million	O
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
7	O
July	O
2009	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
officially	O
exited	O
its	O
beta	O
status	O
in	O
a	O
move	O
to	O
attract	O
more	O
business	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
1	O
September	O
2009	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
suffered	O
another	O
outage	O
for	O
several	O
hours	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
4	O
July	O
2005	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
Gmail	B-Application
Deutschland	O
would	O
be	O
rebranded	O
as	O
Google	B-Application
Mail	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
that	O
point	O
forward	O
,	O
visitors	O
originating	O
from	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
determined	O
to	O
be	O
in	O
Germany	O
would	O
be	O
forwarded	O
to	O
where	O
they	O
could	O
obtain	O
an	O
email	O
address	O
containing	O
the	O
new	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
German	O
naming	O
issue	O
is	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
trademark	O
dispute	O
between	O
Google	B-Application
and	O
Daniel	O
Giersch	O
,	O
who	O
owns	O
a	O
German	O
company	O
called	O
"	O
G-mail	B-Application
"	O
which	O
provides	O
the	O
service	O
of	O
printing	O
out	O
email	O
from	O
senders	O
and	O
sending	O
the	O
print-out	O
via	O
postal	O
mail	O
to	O
the	O
intended	O
recipients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
spoofed	O
"	O
offering	O
"	O
the	O
same	O
service	O
in	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
Paper	O
April	O
Fool	O
's	O
Day	O
joke	O
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
13	O
April	O
2012	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
received	O
the	O
right	O
to	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
trademark	O
in	O
Germany	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
that	O
day	O
the	O
domain	O
and	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
trademark	O
were	O
transferred	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2007	O
Google	B-Application
filed	O
legal	O
action	O
against	O
the	O
owners	O
of	O
,	O
a	O
poet	O
group	O
known	O
in	O
full	O
as	O
Grupa	O
Młodych	O
Artystów	O
i	O
Literatów	O
abbreviated	O
GMAiL	B-Application
(	O
literally	O
,	O
"	O
Group	O
of	O
Young	O
Artists	O
and	O
Writers	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Russian	O
paid	O
mail	O
redirect	O
service	O
called	O
owns	O
the	O
"	O
Gmail	B-Application
"	O
trademark	O
in	O
the	O
Russian	O
Federation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
19	O
October	O
2005	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
voluntarily	O
converted	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
version	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
to	O
Google	B-Application
Mail	I-Application
because	O
of	O
a	O
dispute	O
with	O
the	O
UK	O
company	O
Independent	O
International	O
Investment	O
Research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
who	O
registered	O
before	O
the	O
switch	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
Mail	I-Application
were	O
able	O
to	O
keep	O
their	O
Gmail	B-Application
address	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
logo	O
was	O
replaced	O
with	O
a	O
Google	B-Application
Mail	I-Application
logo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2009	O
Google	B-Application
began	O
to	O
change	O
the	O
branding	O
of	O
UK	O
accounts	O
back	O
to	O
Gmail	B-Application
,	O
following	O
the	O
resolution	O
of	O
the	O
trademark	O
dispute	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
3	O
May	O
2010	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
they	O
would	O
start	O
to	O
phase	O
out	O
the	O
domain	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
also	O
required	O
Android	B-Application
phone	I-Application
users	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
factory	O
reset	O
(	O
requiring	O
a	O
back-up	O
to	O
prevent	O
data	O
loss	O
)	O
to	O
restore	O
phone	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
