Anybody want a Gmail account?

[Michael]

If I am a non-gmail user but a recipient of said mails, how can they be in a side panel? They may be a side panel for gmail users reading through webmail - but what if I read with a non-gmail mail reader?

Like I said above, are you sure the ads aren't only seen by gmail users?

Ads and links to related pages only appear alongside the message that they are targeted to, and are only shown when the Gmail user, whether sender or recipient, is viewing that particular message.[...]

Doesn't this imply that only Gmail users see the ads? Or are they actually embedded in the email so non-Gmail recipients also see them?

[Jon]

Ads and links to related pages only appear alongside the message that they are targeted to, and are only shown when the Gmail user, whether sender or recipient, is viewing that particular message.[...]

Doesn't this imply that only Gmail users see the ads? Or are they actually embedded in the email so non-Gmail recipients also see them?

If they're being sent as HTML mail, they could easily be embedded in the email, as table cells or as frames.

[Dr Keyboard]

I think it means the ads are only seen by those who use the Gmail system to send and receive e-mails. i.e. if you use OUtlook or The Bat you will only see the message text. Unlike if your sender uses e.g. Yahoo! where you WILL see the ads.
Like I said, I'm afraid this level of paranoia is beyond me, really.

[Michael]

Yeah, but does anyone actually know what the situation is? One of Dave's concerns seems to be that he would receive these ads even as a non-gmail user.

[Dr Keyboard]

I've been sending and receiving Gmails for a couple of weeks, and haven't seen any ads in the body of messages. The only ones are those like at http://www.chateaukeyboard.com/diary down the side of the page when I'm actually using the Gmail system.
I think a wrong end of a stick has been grasped, here.

[Dave Robinson]

I think a wrong end of a stick has been grasped, here.

Maybe .. but there's a few millions sticks being grasped wrongly around the internet if that's the case. Believe me - it's not just me

[Dave Robinson]

For those still interested you may like to cast an eye over http://gmail-is-too-creepy.com/

Admittedly this from the VERY opposite end of the spectrum and is making some claims that are as wild as some of google's own ... but it's still worth a read to get both sides of the story