Twenty years ago, many people believed Gmail was just another April Fool’s prank by Google

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were known for their love of pranks, often unveiling outlandish ideas on April Fool’s Day. One of their most memorable pranks was the announcement of Gmail in 2004, a free email service offering one gigabyte of storage per account, a significant amount at the time. Gmail also featured Google’s search technology, allowing users to easily retrieve information from old emails. Despite initial skepticism about the concept, Gmail quickly gained popularity and now boasts an estimated 1.8 billion active accounts.

The development of Gmail, known internally as project “Caribou”, took three years and was spearheaded by former Google engineer Paul Buchheit. When the Associated Press reported on Gmail, readers initially thought it was another April Fool’s Day prank due to the revolutionary concept of the service. A reporter who was shown a demo of Gmail at Google’s headquarters was impressed by the sleek design and functionality. Gmail’s introduction marked a shift in the way people thought about email storage, moving away from the scarcity model to one of abundance.

Gmail’s success paved the way for other innovative products from Google, including Google Maps, Google Docs, YouTube, Chrome browser, and the Android operating system. With its focus on scanning email content for targeted advertising, Gmail also highlighted Google’s commitment to digital surveillance to enhance ad revenue. The service’s limited availability at launch, with only 300 machines and capacity for 10,000 users, created a sense of exclusivity and drove demand for invitations to sign up.

Despite its humble beginnings, Gmail quickly became a sought-after service, with invitations selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. The exclusivity surrounding Gmail eventually faded as Google expanded its data center capacity, allowing more users to access the service. In 2007, Google opened Gmail to the public, marking a significant milestone in the service’s democratization. On the following April Fool’s Day, Google poked fun at itself with a joke feature called “Gmail Paper” that offered to print out users’ email archives on organic paper for delivery via the Postal Service.

Gmail’s impact on the email landscape was profound, shifting the paradigm from scarcity to abundance and redefining user expectations for storage capacity. The service’s combination of storage, search, and speed set a new standard for email providers and paved the way for Google’s expansion into various internet services. Despite initial doubts, Gmail’s success cemented its place as one of the most popular and influential email platforms in the world, with billions of users relying on it daily for communication and data storage.