Part of the latest gold rush on the Net, free email services do get something that is even more valuable than users' money: their personal information.
These Internet services do get something that is even more valuable than users' money: their personal information.
Part of the latest gold rush on the Net,
free emailers make money by selling ads. Advertisers and marketers will gladly pay more for ads that are targeted and delivered to specific users.
"What you pay [with free email] is you trade some personal information," said Kate Delhagen, an analyst with Forrester Research.
"I was very much a pessimist on the value of free email," said Adam Schoenfeld, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "But I was swayed especially by the mobile professional user. Those are the demographics [that companies want]."
Schoenfeld is predicting that free email will become a regular part of every major Web site. Many sites already link to free email sites.