Gmail fights contact confusion

INTERNET OMNIVORE Google has announced that Gmail users will be able to distinguish between their friends, with prompting from its web-based email service.

On the Gmail blog, Google shows it understands its user’s confusion between different contacts, meaning sometimes they email the wrong one. “When's the last time you got an email from a stranger asking, "Are you sure you meant to send this to me?"” it points out. “[Or sent] personal info to some random guy named Bob instead of Bob the HR rep?” D’oh indeed.

The “Got the wrong Bob?” feature will identify groups that you usually email together, and if you accidentally include Bob Smith instead of Bob Jones, a prompt will appear. It will ask, “Did you mean Bob Jones?”

Gmail software engineer Ari Leichtberg and Yossi Matias, head of Google’s Israel engineering center, also announced that Google has changed the name of the "Suggest more recipients" feature to "Don't forget Bob”, to ensure that no recipients of a group email are left off accidentally, whether they are called Bob or not.

The "Got the wrong Bob?" and "Don't forget Bob” features can be turned on from the Labs tab under Gmail Settings. µ