Google keeps on coming up with new features at a rapid pace, some making it to adulthood soon, others stuck in “labs” mode forever, some we like, other’s less so – to each their own. But I’ve never thought the day would come I would write the words utterly ridiculous, iditiotic, intrusive, with absolute certainly about a Google feature. Here’s what I am talking about:
Yes, just as soon as you type an address, Gmail will recommend others ( names partially redacted in above image). Never mind what your email is about ( at this point not only Holy Google knows it), the fact that unlike many social networking features, email tends to be one-to-one, personal, perhaps confidential. I actually wonder if this feature has been developed by a teenager who’s never used email before 
Worst of all, this “feature” is not optional. User frustration is quite unanimous: The Google search “gmail consider including” is nothing but a list of complaints and requests to at least make this optional. Some of the reasons (not that it needs explaining):
I don’t want to accidentally send sensitive commercial details to a semi-random selection of contacts, some of whom i compete with for my livelihood.
I do not need Google to suggest people for me to send emails to, and now i am terrified I add someone accidentally. It’s absolutely mind-boggling why they would add it and not give their users the ability to disable it.
How can anybody at Google say that with a straight face? EMAIL is one of your MAJOR services. If there’s anything you guys should know, it’s the morbid embarrassment and resulting turmoil that your customers endure when accidentally including someone on an email.
How do I turn off “consider including”? Why would a message about sex I send to my girlfriend suggest I also include all
I rest my case. Dear Google: consider excluding the “consider including” feature.
Related articles
- Google send ‘offensive’ reminder to Gmail users (bigbrotherwatch.org.uk)
- ‘Reminder: Call Dad’ Is Another Notch In Google’s Belt Of Social Fail (techcrunch.com)
- Google’s (Unpleasant, Heavy-Handed) Father’s Day Surprise (technologizer.com)
I’m am not offended from the feature. Originally part of Google Labs, it has shown me people that I sometimes forget. Suppose I am on a team project and I email everyone initially. Now, the next time I do so, if I attempt to recall their addresses by memory this feature will fill in the gap with the remaining emails. Pretty nifty. 🙂
I use this feature at work. Also, no recipient will be included unless you click on them. Sometimes I forget to add people to a mail I need them to read or forget to attach something I need to send to them and the features that help me remember to do these thing are useful to me. In any event, you should always review a message after taking a deep breath, and only when you’re satisfied, hit “Send”.