Gmail Overtakes Hotmail!

And now, Gmail has overtaken Microsoft’s Hotmail as the world’s most used mail service. Google is on a roll (all over M$!)

Gmail overtakes Hotmail as world’s largest email service

“Gmail has surpassed Hotmail as the world’s largest email service, according to figures revealed in a post on Google’s blog on Thursday.

‘Gmail, which launched in 2004, has evolved from a simple email service to the primary mode of communication for more than 425 million active users globally,’ wrote Google SVP for Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichal.

Google wasn’t willing to independently verify that it had overtaken Microsoft’s popular email service, but if the figures are correct it represents significant growth for Gmail, which according to Google had just 350 million active users in January.

The steep increase could be attributable to the recent upsurge in Android phones, which require a Google account in order to access the firm’s app store, Google Play. Google said at its I/O Conference keynote on Wednesday that 400 million Android phones have been sold thus far.

While it’s probable that many people have multiple accounts, the figure is still an impressive number, equivalent to nearly a fifth of internet users in the world.

However, according to figures release last month from internet analysis group Comscore, Google has just 289 million users in May, with Microsoft’s Hotmail holding 325 million and Yahoo claiming 298 million.

We are awaiting comment from Microsoft regarding Google’s latest figures on Gmail adoption.”