How to block/autorespond Google Mail (gmail) from your Email Client?

[sun818]

I have Outlook, but am not familiar with how to generate an autoresponse based on the sender's domain. Has anyone successfully set up e-mail client rules to block Gmail? I'm interested in doing this on the client end, but I suppose mail server end would be okay too.

[jbarr]

OK, I'll try it and see what happens...

[jbarr]

A few final rants...

1. Say I send you an inquiry (phone, mail, email, whatever), and you send me a reply (phone, email, whatever) with your "time and expertise." I then take that reply and run it (or at least portions of it) through Google, Altavista, whatever, to gather additional information, make comparisons, make informed decision. How is this really any different? OK, I'll admit that I'm doing more than just looking for ads, but I *will* see AdSense ads in Google searches.

2. If I discover that a competitor offers the same level of service for less money, should I not go with them? Or should I email you back requesting a new quote?

3. Finally, when consumers read email on just about any other "general" ad-supported site, how do they really know that the ads surrounding or within the email are not triggered or associated with the email they read? OK, some are plainly obvious, but others really aren't. Would you rather have users read your emails associated with general ads that you are not affiliated with, or targeted ads that are at least related to your business? Also, if you subscribe to Google's ads, *your* ads may even display!

sun818, one comment for you: just so we're on the same page, I *do* respect your concerns about competitors. You have a business to run, and you are concerned that someone else (Google) who out of your control may steer your existing or potential customers away from your business. That is a valid concern. My main issue is two-fold:

First, the pervailing attitude of so many businesses has become "Customer be damned, this is how we are doing business. If you don't like it, go elsewhere." I am in no way implying that you run your business that way--far from it. I am simply saying that consumers have become very jaded by "bad" businesses, and just want to be treated with respect. After all, they are the ones paying the businesses.

Second, I have been Beta testing Gmail for short of a month, and I find it to be the first Webmail service that really offers a "worthy" experience. Its tools (Search, Labels, etc.) make management of large amounts of email information simple, quick, and enjoyable. As a consumer, I find the ads perfectly acceptable and even welcome as opposed to other general, non-targeted ads. Were it amde available, I would gladly *pay* for an ad-free version of Gmail.

[j4mes]

I'll quote it again, because I think it makes an important point:

I want targeted ads

Why should the seller dictate how I view and interact with e-mail? For all you know, I could already have written a programme that searches for terms in my e-mail. At least this way you know what's happening to the e-mail you send.

I'm looking forward to GMail ... as a user who can compare competitive companies easily

Same here.

competition works FOR ME - the more my customers see what my competitors offer and at what prices, the more loyal they become because they're shown time and time again that I provide the best value.

Same here. :D

[jbarr]

Post the e-mail on a test web page with your AdSense JavaScript. Then compare results.

Very, very interesting....

The ads delivered by Adsense on a simple web page consisting of only the email text returned very poor and very, very different matches from what Gmail returned.

After further looking at the email, I realized that I had applied a "ReplayTV" Label to the message. When I removed the "ReplayTV" Label and applied a "Family" Label, it now showed only "Harley Davidson-related" sites (yes, we were also talking about his new Harley Davidson Sportster that he just bought--it was a diverse email.)

Anyway, probably the biggest "unknown" is just how does Google select the targeted ads. While not at all a scientific test, I would conclude that Labels can play a HUGE role...

[j4mes]

Why not embrace the competitors ads and use it to your benefit like I do? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[edited by: WebGuerrilla at 7:59 pm (utc) on June 8, 2004]

[sun818]

j4mes, all your posts thus far have come from the perspective of a Gmail user. Unfortunately, I'm coming from the perspective of someone who replies to a Gmail. So, all the benefits you mention do not apply to me.

[jbarr]

jbarr, what do you mean label? Subject of the e-mail?

Labels are one of Gmail's excellent features for managing and organizing messages. They are like typical "Folders", but better. You can assign multiple Labels to a message, categorizing it as you wish. As an example, say I had two typical folders, one called "Family" and another called "Jokes". How would I file joke sent by my brother? Labels let me apply, both "Family" and "Jokes" Labels to the message. Then when I click on the "Jokes" Label view, all messages with the Jokes Label display. Clicking on the "Family" Label view displays all messages with a "Family" label.

In the context of our discussion, I created a "ReplayTV" Label and applied it to all my messages that have anything to do with ReplayTV. Apparantly, Gmail is using the Label as part of its ad-targeting criteria.

I would have to speculate that you probably do not actually have a Gmail account because a Label is a basic feature...

[jbarr]

...all your posts thus far have come from the perspective of a Gmail user. Unfortunately, I'm coming from the perspective of someone who replies to a Gmail. So, all the benefits you mention do not apply to me.

Then we are all at an impass because email recipients have specific needs and wants that obviously differ from email senders' needs and wants. I think the overriding question is just who should have control over what how an email message is "experienced". Simply put, my perspective as an email recipient is that I want full say and control over how I handle a message. From my perspective, the sender can control the *content* as he wishes, but I have final say as to how and in what environment I will "experience" it.

[Robino]

So people are blocking Gmail emails because they're worried about competitors' ads in gmail?

Ha! Blocking those emails is a much more effective way to send your customers and prospective customers to your competitors.

You could go one step further and supply a link to your competition in the auto-response.

[digitalv]

Ha! Blocking those emails is a much more effective way to send your customers and prospective customers to your competitors.

Heh, nothing could be closer to the truth than that. If I email you with a question and get no reply or some auto response saying that you don't want to email me at my chosen e-mail provider, I'm DEFINITELY going to buy from a competitor because you just told me I wasn't welcome.

Even if your competitors are so much better than you that you're scared of your potential customers ever hearing their names, you still have a CHANCE to make a sale. Blocking out their e-mail will eliminate that chance completely.

Make no mistake - no one is going to stop using GMAIL because YOU don't like them. They're just going to stop buying from YOU.

[sun818]

> They're just going to stop buying from YOU.

That is a possibility. Another possibility is that the buyer will contact me from another e-mail address. At this point, both positions are speculative. We'll see after I block enough Gmails which ones stay away and which ones write from a different email address.

[digitalv]

We'll see after I block enough Gmails which ones stay away and which ones write from a different email address.

Just curious, how will you know? I doubt everyone is going to say they were rejected by Gmail, if anyone DOES write to you from a different account they might not mention that they're doing so because you blocked their gmail account. Also what are you going to do about people who forward their mail to their Gmail account?

[sun818]

> Just curious, how will you know?

Apply this rule after the messages arrives
with gmail.com> in the message header
notify me using Popup Box
and reply using autoresponse
and move it to the Sent Items folder
and stop processing more rules

> if anyone DOES write to you

If it is a similar message within a few minutes of each other, it will be the same user. If they write later, I may not have a way to track them later.

> people who forward their mail to their Gmail account?

There's nothing I can do.

[ThatAdamGuy]

Some of the logic suggested here truly baffles me.

I'm just envisioning this autoresponse:

I'm sorry, due to concerns about you possibly seeing ads for my competitors, I refuse to respond directly to your message. Please go through this convoluted response of clicking on a link, viewing my actual reply on a Web page, then switching back to your e-mail page if you have further questions.

I find that it's better to inconvenience you, my current or potential customer, than risk having you possibly be tempted to compare what I offer against my competitors' offerings.

Thanks for your understanding.

Okay, so I'm being a bit snarky, and I admit an autoresponse isn't going to be quite so straightforward and blunt.

But if I, as a customer or potential customer of a firm, ever got a related autoreply like that, I'd think one or more of the following:

1) This company is truly paranoid.
2) This company is misinformed.
3) This company has little respect for my time or my business.
4) This company must have some really tempting alternatives... hmm... maybe I should check them out!

Additionally, I'd be likely to incredulously tell my friends, "Hey, can you believe... ExampleCorp.com refused to do business with me since I e-mailed them from my Gmail account!"

Some folks say that any publicity is good publicity. In this case, frankly, I beg to differ.

[trillianjedi]

I have to say I have no interest in blocking gmail ads either, and if the competition has a more attractive advert via AdWords than my email is itself an effective sales pitch/advert, then frankly I've failed. I wrote a bad email.

That to one side, if you're really worried about it (and clearly some people are) perhaps the best direction for this thread would be some alternative options to the auto-response?

One thing I thought about would be to have a ticketing system whereby the only reply to the original email sender (gmail or otherwise) is a link with your response that they click on it to get your reply.

That collection of data could possibly then be used for auto-creating (or auto-collating) a FAQ document. The content simply goes back onto your site .

TJ

[Leosghost]

I have noticed ( by sending emails to my own account )that I can "optimise" to show certain ads only in incoming mails ...I presume that although the success is dependent on the industry which is serving the "adsense" ( BTW what do we call the ads in gmail and the eventual "science" of it's manipulation /optimisation )....
Then again this is for a niche area ..but I am surprised by the very small size of "manipulations" that are needed to tweak the "algo" ...

[jbarr]

I have noticed ( by sending emails to my own account )that I can "optimise" to show certain ads only in incoming mails...

One important fact (factual from what I can tell anyway) is that "Labels" also have an impact on what ads are displayed. Case in point: my brother-in-law sent me a diverse, chatty email that discussed things like his new Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle, his ReplayTV Digital Video Recorder, and some plans to come and visit for a vacation. Unfortunatly, I don't remember what ads showed up when it first hit my Inbox, but after Labelling the message with a "ReplayTV" Label, all ads were ReplayTV-related. Later, when I re-labeled it with a "Family" Label, the ads changed to Harley Davidon ads.