Rumor has it that Google will soon shut down Gmail, causing panic on social networks. I But no need to worry, this is fake news! The company is certainly not going to end one of its most popular services!
Google is known for having terminated many of its services, to the point where there is talk of a “Google cemetery”. Google Reader, Google Clips, Stadia, Inbox by Gmail, YouTube Gaming, Google Trips, Google Allo, Google Plus, Google Talk, Chromebook Pixel, Project Ara, Google Latitude, Nexus Q… To date, there are no less than 293 projects abandoned within the company. And it is not uncommon for the announcement of their closure to come overnight. This time, Gmail is affected. Indeed, a rumor began to spread on X on the evening of February 22: Google was preparing to close its electronic messaging service in the coming months. That would be very annoying! Obviously, the information is false, it would make no sense for the Mountain View firm to end one of its most popular services. But that didn’t stop some Internet users from being fooled. To the point of causing a wave of panic on the microblogging platform.
Fake news Gmail: a subtle but effective diversion
A screenshot is currently running on X. It is an “email” in which Google announces that it will eliminate its messaging solution by August 1, 2024. “After years of connecting millions of users around the world, […] the Gmail adventure will end there. From August 1, 2024, Gmail will be officially closed and will no longer be able to receive or send emails., explains the message, which advises everyone to download their archives before the fateful date. In total, this post has been viewed more than six million times on this post alone.
Despite the fact that this announcement makes no sense, many have been fooled, because the turns of phrase and the general appearance of the email actually resemble what Google could send. And that’s no coincidence! This is actually an old announcement in which the company announced the end of Gmail in a simplified HTML version, which allowed it to run on non-compatible browsers and low-performance machines, from January 1, 2024. Small smart people obviously thought it was funny to tamper with the message, creating general panic on Elon Musk’s social network. So much so that the official Gmail account on X had to reactbreaking into a laconic “Gmail is here to stay”.