What do the Chinese use for email? It might be more than these three combined. If Yahoo and MS are the top dogs in the world, then the prop is fine. If there are others in Europe, China, etc. that are bigger, then maybe just ask if Gmail will pass these two. Other than that, looks good to me.

P.S. It would be easier to preview my comments if the craftsman sander stopped attacking me.....

(bump).

Review away.

Ya chef, it's like living in a horror movie.

Taylor I know you probably have no say in the ads, but please express our annoyance to the ones up above.

I for one installed Ad Block Plus, for this reason only.

seems fine. please keep it simple and as is. the us population couldn't possibly have all those accounts people. there are users in others countries

I think it is possible to have that many accounts just in the US. I have 2 Gmails, 2 Hotmails, and 2 Yahoomails. I agree with Chef that it should be changed to Gmail having to pass both Microsoft and Yahoo, because if there is a server found in China or India with more, this will close literally like the CRX stock did, not as it is written.

I also think it would be best to focus on whether Gmail passes Yahoo and Microsoft in number of email accounts rather than any email service.

In regards to having more than one mail account, my mom probably has 4 or 5 Yahoo's as well as a Google. I have a Google and a Yahoo, and my sister has a Yahoo. So, all together, we're looking at 2 Google's and 6-7 Yahoo's - in a household of three. And I know people that are always making new accounts because they come up with new crazy names they like to use for a little while. The US can definitely pull off all those accounts, all on it's own.

Nice suggestions. Here's the final (tweaked and toned) result:

Will Gmail’s user count surpass Yahoo Mail’s and Microsoft Live’s by December 1, 2009?
Gmail seems to be stuck in third place. Despite how ubiquitous Google is, its mail service is still behind Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s – it has 113 million users, whereas Yahoo Mail has 274 million and Microsoft Live has 283 million. But it might not be the underdog for long. Google has added a voice and video chat plug-in to its mail service, which is completely free. While its competitors already offer these services, there is one major difference that sets Google apart – its video and chat service is fully integrated into Gmail. This could give it the competitive edge needed to gain more users. But is it enough to surpass Yahoo Mail and Microsoft Live?

This proposition will pay off at POP$100 per share if Gmail has more users Yahoo Mail and Microsoft Live (each, not combined) by December 1, 2009 at 3 p.m. EST.

It's small, but I'd modify the payout line to read:

This proposition will pay off at POP$100 per share if Gmail has more users THAN Yahoo Mail and Microsoft Live (each, not combined) by December 1, 2009 at 3 p.m. EST.

Also, will this proposition pay out if Gmail passes them but then Yahoo passes Gmail again before the deadline?

As to Mike's last point, the way I read the proposition is
that if Google is deemed to have poked its nose out in front
of both those two fillys (or should I say Nags) the race is
called, and pays long. It's who is judging the race that
bothers me. We all know that these publicly traded companys
have a vested interest in inflating their subscription rates.
It would save a lot of hemming and hawing if we had a monthly
data report we could look to as the arbitrator of the total
number of "users" of each service. Else, everyone will be
justified in citing conflicting data as proof. Just my
2 bits.

Along mike's point as well; this is one reason why I prefer not using the 'occurs by' reasoning but to shift towards the 'snapshot at closing date' view. ie. If, on Dec 15, google has more subscribers, pay @ $100.

This is the kind of prop where that snapshot view works. Now, I'm sure its too late to change this one that drastically but let's keep that in mind for future props and get a mix of the two styles.

-NapkinG-

Hey Napkin,

Future consideration for sure.

Rayman and M_; too late now, but yeah, good points.

Thanks!

t