Email is typically static. Because of security concerns, virtually none of the standard web-based and desktop email clients let you run JavaScript code in an HTML email, for example. Microsoft’s Hotmail made a small push in this direction in 2010, when it started whitelisting emails from a few trusted third-parties, including Orbitz, Netflix and LinkedIn. Now, it looks like Google is also moving in this directions (at least for emails from its own products), because starting today, Google+ notifications in Gmail will become a lot more interactive.
This is actually Google’s second step in this direction. Since March, Google+ users were already able to add people to their circles from inside the Google+ notifications email.
With today’s update, however, Google is basically bringing the full interactive Google+ experience to these messages. Users can now view, comment on and +1 posts from their inboxes. Responses from their friends will also appear in real time right inside the message.
These features will roll out to all Google+ users over the next week (and if you’d rather not get Google+ notification emails, you can also turn them off here).
It’s worth noting, by the way, that a number of startups, including PowerInbox – which we wrote about earlier this year – are also trying to make email more interactive and turn it into more of a platform. The PowerInbox browser plugin, for example works with Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Outlook and its API is already being used by a number of other email clients, including Unified Inbox.
Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...
PowerInbox, a Boston, MA-based open app platform for email. Powerinbox’s service, which has been made available to the public today, enables users to run apps from inside their email messages. PowerInbox works on Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail with Outlook coming soon. The company’s open app platform makes developers create apps that run on all email using HTML5.
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