Watch out Gmail! It’s goodbye Hotmail, hello Outlook

It’s goodbye Hotmail, hello Outlook. Watch out Gmail.

That’s the message from Microsoft for its millions of Hotmail users.

Microsoft is banking on having the best email service on the Internet and it will spend at least $30 million to make sure that users know it. There are over 300 million users of Hotmail all over the world.

Head to head on email

The company is rolling out a version of Outlook that is now available all over the world. Microsoft first launched a preview mode of Outlook last July 31, 2012.

This will place Outlook in direct competition with other popular email service providers such as Google Inc., AOL Inc., Yahoo Inc. and many other companies.

To date, Gmail is the most popular email service on the Internet. Google’s email service has been available to consumers for almost nine years. As of 2012, Gmail is estimated to have over 425 million users all over the world while Yahoo users number 281 million.

The marketing blitz

To let users know about Outlook.com, Microsoft is embarking on an a massive and expensive marketing campaign that will cover primetime TV ads, websites, billboards, print ads on buses and commercials on various radio stations all over the country. The ads are congruent with its ongoing Scroogled campaign, which is aimed at dissatisfied Gmail users.

This marketing blitz will span at least three months, just in time for the big transition for the summer season. The budget for this marketing campaign is estimated somewhere between $30 million to as much as $90 million.

Already, Hotmail users are being notified of the change by alerts they receive on their email. They are already being given the opportunity to make the switch as early as now.

There are already 60 million active users of Outlook.com to date. Microsoft claims that about 20 million Outlook.com users are formerly Gmail accounts.

Advantage of Outlook

Outlook has a more user-friendly interface and comes with many organizational tools that can easily be used. Despite the cleaner and decluttered look, users will see its similarity to its predecessor Hotmail.

What happens to Hotmail?
Existing Hotmail users can voluntarily make the switch to Outlook. However, come the summer season, the different email services under Microsoft will be converted to Outlook.com automatically. Messages in the Inbox and various folders, plus contacts and existing settings will be carried over to Outlook.com to make the transition easier for users.

Those with Hotmail email addresses need not worry. They can still keep their Hotmail.com email address. Those who have live.com and MSN.com can also keep using their existing accounts. However, the Hotmail brand will be phased out.

Email here to stay

In the age of texting, Facebook and instant messaging, seems like email is still here to stay and it remains an area where rival players are still fighting for supremacy.

People are still logging on and checking their email, though many have transitioned from checking email on their personal computers and are now using their smartphones and mobile devices. Because users are still logging on to different websites, these companies are still able to make money by selling ads.