So who has the largest amount of unique users regarding web email services? Is it Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail? If you go by last year’s numbers, all three weigh in at about the 300-350 million mark regarding active users, but thanks to a tidbit of information dropped during Day 2 of Google 2012 I/O conference, Gmail may be pulling away from their competitors.

While transitioning from one segment to another, Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President of Google Chrome said that Gmail has 425 million unique users a month, an increase of 75 million since January 2012.

The question is, are Gmail’s competitors keeping up with the rapid growth demonstrated by Google’s web email service, or are the decreasing as people transition to Gmail? Is it reasonable to believe all web-based email services are enjoying the same kind of user explosion or is it more accurate to think people are leaving one service for another? Could the explosion of Android users be the reason for Gmail’s increase, considering you have to have a Google account to get the full functionality out of your Android-powered phone?

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