Online Merchants Scramble to Cope with Gmail Changes

by: JohnGermaine

Hopefully this will get folks to leave Google Mail. I had to use it for my day job and hated it. Clumsy program and so nosey too!!! I really don't like it or their Crummy Chrome either.

by: unusual1

I changed Gmail back to the way it was. I didn't ask for or want a change. Very stupid on their part - they must have had some ex ebay employees telling them what to do.  

by: askalice59

I don't see the problem. It does prioritize your mailbox but with the volume of email I get it helps me find what I need to see more easily. When I have time I can go back and look through the other folders.

by: Will

I have my Gmail email forwarded to my Outlook program, and nothing has changed there.

by: elpereles

The idea is good, but making it works automatically can be headache.  

by: Philip Cohen

Our privacy is being invaded across the board; certainly, facebook (and possibly Linkedin) is getting into our email contact lists; there is no other way that they can suggest to me that a certain person may be known to me, when I do indeed know of that person, not via any social media site but only via a single email exchange some five years ago …

Our privacy is very much under threat, and not only from the NSA …

“Only the mediocre are always at their best”—Jean Giraudoux ...
So, undoubtedly, Donahoe is doing his best at eBay ... http://bit.ly/12xvzyA

by: InternetCarScams

I like the new feature on my android device. And pop my Gmail accounts with winders live mail on the pc.

Gmail is king of spam control. With several old domain specific email addresses that are unfiltered and forwarded into my Gmail account which smartly figures out what is spam and what is not. Works great!

Just will take some time for the new feature to get accustomed to.

by: Rexford

Just like eBay, Google/Gmail just can't stop remodeling the house.  Add Facebook to that group as well.

by: FREDDY

I like when someone else ''knows'' what you want. Obvious we are not smart enough to know what we want to look at. Another big brother watching ?

by: Ina

Google spokesperson told me, keep marketing messages out of your ecommerce notifications to your buyers, or those notifications could end up in the Promotions folder.

So if your emails to your buyers (shipping notification, for example) include messaging about a sale, coupon or request to join your email mailing list, it's possible that Google could place that email in the recipient's Promotions tab.

Even your signature line could be problematic.

What if someone told Google that ads in search results were too distracting, and that people had to click on a tab in order to see the ads, with the rationale that searchers would be in a better mindset to view the ads.

That's in effect what Google is doing to marketers with the Gmail changes, only it feels much more egregious since it's your email to your buyer.

by: Basset

Freddy -
I gave up on ''big brother'' - apparently he moved in to stay indefinitely. Might as well treat him as family.


Every time my computer does something weird  I can blame the NSA. Having a bad day? - let the NSA know about it. Give the NSA an earful about latest government deeds & misdeeds.   Might as well get some value out of them. Better than a ''dear diary''.  

Now NSA want passwords & encryption! Will I wake up one day to find my email accounts magically sorted & organized?  

by: Basset

Just saw Ina's follow up -

I wonder about ''links'' after reading it. The emails I send to buyers when their item ships contains a link to my eBay store.

How would google discern which ''links'' are promotional, tho. Mr. Basset & I send emails with links to each other all the time!

by: OnceuponaTime

Keep this search engine on file for future consideration...They are currently working on a private email system......https://ixquick.com/eng/

by: TomH

On a personal level I use my GMail account as a throw-away email address. I check and delete everything about twice a year.

On a business level their meddling is more problematic and I'm sure has a (their) bottom line motive some where down the line. Like eBay they care only about their bottom line and I am wary of trusting them with my livelihood.  

by: comet

I liked Gmail until oh about last week.  Aside for the severe intrusive factor that is!

I HATE that part of it.  Creepy to be "shadowed" as I get--and receive!--messages for business and personal.

Now as to this NEWEST INVASION OF PRIVACY---don't even try to tell ME that some one at Google or hey even the NSA is NOT seeing these "pre-sorted" messagea and ads and then scrutinizing them to find out where we have been???  And what we LIKE?  Even more creeped out about that!

Changed mine back the first day--hard to FIND how to do it but Tech Support ie Mr Comet managed.  But I am pretty sure that I am STILL missing things------I def did NOT like this sorting and MISSING ALL OF MY BUSINESS info to some stray "tab".

by: baghera

I did not like the changes to my Gmail inbox. I quickly found the settings and changed it back to the way it was. Only I know how I want my inbox setup. Google does not and should stay out of my business.

by: iheartjacksparrow

Thanks, Ina, for the link to turning off the Promotions tab. Gmail is my primary e-mail account, and while the Ecommerce Bytes newsletters were directed to my Primary tab, I prefer to have all my messages in one, continuous column.

It would have been nice if they'd sent a warning of this change. I was in the middle of loading a web site in Firefox, when the whole thing shut down. I started it up again and thought my Gmail had become corrupted with all the extra tabs. It was only after I saw the "Welcome to the new Gmail inbox" message that I stopped worrying about what type of virus I must have picked up.  

by: Tula

This is one reason I run my own email server. I also use a mail client on my PC that lets me build my own filtering rules, so I can put things where I want them. I want to be able to sort and organize things according to my needs, not someone else's. Not to mention, this way I have more privacy. I also don't use Outlook because it's too well-known to hackers and too easy to exploit. Plus it's too much of a pain to build filters.

I don't like how companies keep assuming we want them to manage everything for us or that our configurations choices are their for changing when they choose. They're pushing us to use online services that are out of our control instead of applications that we own and can manage for ourselves. Not to mention, it's easier for them to market more junk to us on services they run.

Just yesterday, I had to stop using ZoneAlarm's free firewall because they insist upon hijacking your search box and home page before you can install it (along with adding a toolbar to all browsers). I never use the search box anyway and toolbars can easily be disabled, but my home page is not something I will cede to anyone else. I didn't want to have to waste time figuring out how to disable that stuff (some discussions on their forum said it's hard to do compared to the norm). I understand about wanting something in exchange for free software, but they went too far and now lost a potential customer. A lot of this kind of thing is happening and it's not good.

by: thehosst

Another way to create accidental clicks that we the merchants have to pay for. It should not be called Promotions, it should be called Paid Ads, so people don't click and click thinking they are real personalized promotions. How many more failed projects will google make us pay for?

by: InternetCarScams

The new feature is only if you use webmail to access Gmail.

It's easy to set up either an external Imap or Pop3 account on Gmail. Click the star wheel and select pop and forwarding.

Personally i prefer the POP3 so i keep a copy of all incoming and outgoing mail on my pc.

Windows 7-8 live mail is free - and if you are still using XP outlook express works well.  

Google has done a fantastic job on the Gmail Android app. I prefer my YouTube, Facebook, and other social emails go into a separate folder.

Gotta keep up with the times folks.. :)