"If Gmail creeps you out, just don't sign up. ... That would be a shame, though, because you'd be missing a wonderful thing. Even in its current, early state, available only to a few thousand testers, Gmail appears destined to become one of the most useful Internet services since Google itself.

... The ads are so subtle, so easily ignored, that it's hard to imagine anyone preferring the big, blinking, slow-loading graphic ads that appear every time you check for messages at the Hotmail and Yahoo Mail sites. Even more refreshing, Gmail doesn't turn you into an unpaid billboard for Yahoo or Microsoft (Hotmail's owner) by stamping ads on at the bottom of every outgoing message, no matter how sensitive the topic.  ...

The only population likely not to be delighted by Gmail are those still uncomfortable with those computer-generated ads. Those people are free to ignore or even bad-mouth Gmail, but they shouldn't try to stop Google from offering Gmail to the rest of us. We know a good thing when we see it."

Google’s E-mail Service Flexible - Matthew Fordahl
Information Week - June 4, 2004
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=21401484

As for privacy, there are a lot bigger fish to fry as messages travel from computer to computer across the Internet and into the recipient's Google account. The privacy debate tends to obscure assessment of other Gmail attributes--namely usability, storage and search. In most of these areas, Google trounces other free E-mail services, including those offered by Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc.

"Gmail isn't an invasion of privacy, and its ads are preferable to the giant blinking banners for diets and dating services that are splashed across my other Web mail accounts. … Gmail critics have ignored the fact that automated software already scans the contents of your incoming e-mail messages. Antispam and antivirus software at most ISPs and corporate firewalls comb through the personal contents of your e-mail all the time. Gmail is just a little more upfront about it."

"…Google insists quite clearly in its privacy policy that 'No human reads your mail to target ads or other information without your consent.' The process by which it pushes ads at its users is fully automated. Fears about privacy problems inherent with the Gmail service are, in our opinion, overblown."

"... [Gmail's contextual ads] would be out of the way, but available to people that want them. Yes, there are people who might actually appreciate the service. I could imagine a scenario where a friend e-mails me about Sony's new Sony DCR-HC40 MiniDV Handycam. I'm interested in learning more, and then I notice that there are some text-based ads next to my mail message pointing to online stores where I can buy the digital camcorder or even prices on the tapes that it uses. What's not to like about that?"

The Fuss About Gmail and Privacy: Nine Reasons Why It's Bogus - Tim O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media - April 16, 2004
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/4707

"Despite the claims of critics, I don't see that the kind of automated text scanning that Google would need to do to insert context-sensitive ads is all that different from the kind of automated text scanning that is used to detect spam."

"The privacy issue is overblown. Indeed, as Sen. Figueroa herself points out, virtually every piece of e-mail sent across the Internet is already scanned by robots, be it for spam or viruses. If you have a problem with robots reading your mail -- with or without your consent -- you're going to have to go back to the U.S. Postal Service, or start encrypting everything."

"We have absolutely no problem with how Google is handling the placement of these ads in Gmail. We think it's being done tastefully and with the user's comfort in mind. Google has done something no other webmail service has been able to achieve – they've taken their customer's comfort and sensibilities into consideration while also preserving a viable ad-based business model."

"…well-targetted (sic) advertising is itself a useful thing. If you take as a given that you're going to accept ads to subsidize an activity, few wish to have their time wasted by ads that are irrelevant. … Much of what Google is doing with Gmail (sic) is innovative and worthwhile. It would be ridiculous to see it banned, as Senator Figueroa would suggest."

Google Mail: Novelty or Nosy? - Alyce Lomax
The Motley Fool - April 13, 2004
http://www.fool.com/news/mft/2004/mft04041315.htm (registration required)

"…Though I understand the privacy argument, I also think it's overblown. … These days, there's often a trade of some degree of privacy for some technological service that makes life easier or better. Being what it is, I don't see how Gmail should be judged any harsher."

"In the face of obvious consumer interest and Google's clearly written privacy policy, legislators and regulators would do consumers a grave disservice if they were to ban or otherwise hobble Gmail. The last thing that California and Europe should be telling technology companies is that their innovations are not welcome."