Google's Gmail Hottest Tech Ticket In Town

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May 21, 2004 (12:08 PM EDT)

Gmail, the controversial free e-mail service that Google is currently testing, is such a hot item that users are willing to trade everything from a kidney to medical advice -- or pay more than $150 -- to get their hands on an account.

Gmail, which is available only to a limited number of testers -- Google hasn't yet set a public release data for the service -- comes with 1,000 megabytes of storage space, far more than other free Web-based e-mail services such as Hotmail or Yahoo. It's also drawn the ire of privacy advocates for its plan to scan incoming mail with automated bots, then deliver targeted ads to users.

Those downsides haven't deterred thousands of Gmail wannabes from posting pleadings on Sean Michaels' gmailswap.com Web site for an invitation to the service, nor stopped hundreds from selling invitations on eBay.

Michaels, 22, and a recent graduate in cultural science from McGill College in Montreal, has created a site where people can beg for a Gmail account -- current users of Gmail are sometimes allowed to invite others to the service -- or swap something in exchange.

He took the site live on Monday, and already it boasts thousands of posts.

"I think the biggest thing [drawing people to Gmail] is that they've been told it's a hot commodity, and they don't want to be left in the dust."

One desperate poster on gmail swap offered to trade a kidney for an account.

"Kidney will be delivered in cooler (yours to keep!) on a date specified by you. You pay shipping," wrote a poster identified only as "timepilot84."

Others swap offers were less creative, but also a lot less disturbing.

One woman promised to be an online girlfriend for a month -- "photos negotiable; real contact not included" -- and one writer who claimed he was Marc Marcuse, who was a contestant on NBC's reality show "Average Joe," begged for an account, saying that he deserved one because "NBC never paid us a dime."

A recent medical school graduate even promised to dispense "unlimited medical advice on any subject/symptom/disease of interest."

"I created gmail swap in response to the crass commercialization on eBay," said Michaels. "Buying an account was the only option, and I thought that ran contrary to Google giving away the service. There are nice people out there," said the Canadian, a people widely known for their niceness. "And I thought nice people would help nice people."

Speaking of eBay, hundreds of Gmail accounts and invitations are currently up for sale on the online auction site.

As of Friday morning, nearly 300 Gmail accounts were listed on eBay, with current bids as high as $70. Earlier auctions of Gmail accounts have closed at over $150.

Gmail's terms of agreement don't explicitly forbid trading or selling account, and when asked for his take on the practice, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler declined comment. "We have no statement on that," he said.

But plenty of Gmail users -- and wannabe users -- seem to. At least until Google rolls out the real version.

"When that happens, gmailswap.com will just go to sleep," promised Michaels.