Google Buys iPhone Search App, Kills It 223
Hugh Pickens writes "PC World reports that Google has acquired a popular iPhone application called reMail that provides 'lightning fast' full-text search of your Gmail and IMAP e-mail accounts. The app downloads copies of all your e-mail which can then be searched with various Boolean options. reMail has only been in the application store for about six months — with a free version limited to one Gmail account and a premium version which can connect to multiple accounts. 'Google and reMail have decided to discontinue reMail's iPhone application, and we have removed it from the App Store,' writes company founder Gabor Cselle, who will be returning to Google as a Product Manager on the Gmail team. Google isn't saying what the fate of reMail might be. Some are suggesting reMail could be integrated into Gmail search or live on in some form as a part of Android, Google's mobile platform. Another possibility is that Google may have snapped up reMail just to kill it, not because reMail was a competitor to anything Google had, but because reMail made the iPhone better or the acquisition may have more to do with keeping good search technology away from the competition, as opposed to an attempt to undercut the iPhone. 'Perhaps Google is just planning to buy up all the iPhone developers, one at a time, until Android is the only game in town,' writes Bill Ray at the Register."
Re:Fate? (Score:2, Informative)
It's the app store, 20 clones will pop up soon enough.
Like I said, it'll be incorporated into some version of gmail down the line. (My guess anyway)
Profit (Score:5, Informative)
20 COMPETE WITH GOOGLE
30 GET BOUGHT BY GOOGLE
40 GOTO 10
Re:*Shrug* (Score:3, Informative)
Well, the iPhone already has an IMAP application called 'Mail' and since they added Spotlight search on the iPhone, full-text inbox searches are also/still possible.
Re:Fate? (Score:4, Informative)
He seems to have some experience on the gmail team at least, he was an intern there when Google started developing it.
It's happened before... it'll happen again (Score:5, Informative)
There's no reason to think that Google isn't doing the same thing.
Re:Totally idiotic conclusions (Score:3, Informative)
[slashdot.org]
Well, there may already a hole in that: IMAP. I don't EVER hit Gmail's HTTPS address. Thunderbird accesses the gmail box and does all searches internally.
Of course, if an IMAP MUA uses the IMAP SEARCH command to search mailboxes, then GOOG's IMAP face can treat that input like it would a web-based search form entry, so if that's the case then their search-optimizing input overlord status is secure.
But other than Google's own feature-promotion spam, I see no advertising.
Re:Totally idiotic conclusions (Score:4, Informative)
So they simply killed it because it did not bring them any revenues!
But has Google actually killed access methods to G*, in the past, that didn't directly bring it revenue?
* Exhibit "A": IMAP for Gmail. Despite the lack of advertising revenue during IMAP sessions, Google provides free, quality IMAP service to all Gmail accounts.
* Exhibit "B": Mobile clients for Gmail: As with IMAP, the mobile Gmail clients (Blackberry, etc.) don't display any advertising to the user during mobile sessions.
In both the IMAP and mobile cases, Google actually spent time and money (engineering hours) building capacities that let people access Gmail with zero advertising. To the untrained idiot, this might see paradoxical: Why would Google spend money on things that don't directly generate revenue?
Of course, if you ponder it for a hot five seconds, the answer is pretty obvious: Good IMAP and mobile options can increase user adoption of Gmail, generally, because the end user finds more to use. This means more people will integrate Gmail more deeply into their lives, and the overall increased Gmail usage could very well drive up absolute web UI page views. The alternatives help get me hooked on Gmail, but in the end I spend more time logging in through the web UI because I'm just using Gmail all that much more. In the end, Google gets more ad views, and revenue increases.
There's a similar concept in retail called the "loss leader": You sell a popular item at below cost, and advertise the hell out of it, just to get people into your store. While they're in your store, they will are likely to buy other, non-sale (profit-making) items, too, since they're already there. Voila! Your revenue increases.
So who do you think you are, calling these suspicions totally idiotic? Google has suddenly broken with its past policies regarding alternative, non-ad-viewing Gmail interfaces. If you've been trusting Google in the past, due to their general friendliness to end users, this apparent change of heart is kind of alienating.
Re:Fate? (Score:3, Informative)
It's not identical, I'm sure, but it's been out for a long time already. It's called DeepFish http://www.webis.net/products_info.php?p_id=deepfish [webis.net]
Re:Totally idiotic conclusions (Score:3, Informative)
Slashdot should be embarrassed for all the FUD they've been posting.
Agreed. You can also still search IMAP accounts, the only difference is it's slower than this app since the app itself downloaded copies to the phone while native search searches the server. This has nothing to do with ad revenue.
Too complicated.. (Score:3, Informative)
DeepFish is complicated - too many options. Something only a nerd would love. What was nice about reMail was simplicity, like Google itself.
Re:Fate? (Score:2, Informative)
Reddit's moderation system? Are you kidding me? It sucks balls compared to Slashdot's.
Re:Fate? (Score:3, Informative)