Gmail was the real Google email product announced on April 1, 2004.
Its April Fools’ Day launch initially made many people suspect that Gmail itself was a prank. Google had already built a reputation for elaborate April 1 jokes, and the service’s promised 1 gigabyte of free storage seemed implausible compared with competing webmail services. Gmail was nevertheless a genuine product, introduced as a limited beta by invitation.
Google engineer Paul Buchheit created Gmail after developing an internal email system known as “Caribou.” The service emphasized search, conversation threading and large storage rather than the folder-heavy design common at the time. Gmail later opened broadly and became one of Google’s best-known products.
A common mix-up is confusing Gmail’s launch with Google’s 2004 prank, PigeonRank, which humorously claimed that pigeon behavior powered search rankings. Gmail’s unusual launch date was deliberate: the skepticism surrounding April Fools’ Day helped make the announcement memorable.