Gmail Knocks AOL Out of the Way in Race to the Top

Gmail has comScore, Gmail has surpassed AOL's email service.

This data shows that in July Gmail had 37 million unique visitors, while AOL had 36.4 million. If this data is accurate, and Gmail continues to grow, that just leaves Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo Mail left for it to tackle.

While Google clearly dominates in search, Microsoft and Yahoo have both had higher numbers in email for as long as Gmail has existed. Gmail is much younger, however. And while Gmail still has a way to go before overtaking these other services (especially Yahoo), it is no secret that Google has been gaining.

Earlier this year, murdok

At the time of that discussion, Gmail was on pace to surpass Hotmail by the end of the year, and InformationWeek made it easier to import email and contacts from other providers like Yahoo and Hotmail. This was Google's way of luring users to start Gmail accounts without having to abandon their existing accounts.