It sort of makes sense to me that Google, in exchange for giving me a free email account, would email ads to my free email account. Microsoft always has; I can't tell you how many times I saw "Hotmail (1)" on my MSN screen and clicked through only to find it was some ad for some Microsoft thing or another. At least with Google's version, it's very, very clear that these are ads; they don't even make your inbox get a (1) next to it or anything.

Exactly: "Promotions" is not "Spam". There is already a spam folder, so these should go straight in there, if anywhere.

How does this fit in with the CAN-SPAM act?

"Unsubscribe compliance

    A visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism is present in all emails.
    Consumer opt-out requests are honored within 10 days.
    Opt-out lists also known as Suppression lists are only used for compliance purposes.

"

If there is no unsubscribe option, are google in violation? (Their get-out may be that these are not actual emails, but by making the transition from clear ad space to inbox, most people would argue that the delivery mechanism is irrelevant)

They're adverts presented in the same place you see your e-mails but as they haven't been sent the the way an e-mail is, they won't have used any e-mail protocol, you won't be able to reply to them as e-mails and so on so they aren't e-mails so won't be covered by this.

So does this also mean that they won't show up in IMAP clients?

Yes

A free ride, running one of the largest and best-of-breed, free software-infrastructures.

The gmail I have now is a shadow of what it was when I was invited in more than a decade ago. I so rarely login (it's a backup dumping ground now) that I can't find what I want, it's non-intuitive, things aren't where they used to be and I can't stand it. I might just be getting old though...

You're not wrong. Google has repeatedly made Gmail worse, and I'll probably dump it when the "compose box" is forced on me.

> I can't find what I want, it's non-intuitive, things aren't where they used to be and I can't stand it. I might just be getting old though...

Definitely getting old. You sound exactly like every old person (3 of them) who i've moved from Outlook to Gmail.

If you joined Gmail when it was new and on an invite-only basis, you'd know just how much worse things has gotten.

Back then Gmail was better than everything else. Now it's an abomination which makes me want to jump ship.

I've come to Gmail with an invite too, and I fully agree with you. But I don't know yet where I would jump to. I would prefer it to be a European company.

Are you kidding? Maybe it's grown beautiful in your memory since you last saw it. 2004 gmail is fugly.

FYI, everyone was upset when it changed. That's normal human behaviour. Nobody likes change. But since then, I've learnt where the "hidden" features are, and am lovin' it.

BTW, the new Hotmail (Outlook.com) is pretty awesome too. Even better than gmail IMO.

So ... you're complaining that a service you don't really use has changed and your old understanding of it won't help you to find your way now?

I get frustrated when I go back to my hometown and am confronted with new streets and missing landmarks, but it certainly isn't their fault.

The changes are why I left, mainly the realisation that the adverts matched things I was typing (duh..), but also the hard sell attempts to get more data - phone number, location, Google+. Interface changes compounded my dislike. Edit for typo.

What makes you feel like they need any kind of permission? It's their product and they can damn well structure it how they want to.

You may not like it, and if you don't I strongly urge you to stop using their products.