Hmmm… Does Google’s new, free, bundled Smart Labels product seem to mimic functionality from my product SaneBox? Yes.

Am I going to wander into traffic because Google seems to be slow-copying my product? Absolutely not.  

SaneBox is still easier to use, more accurate, and more fully featured than PI and Smart Labels.  And SaneBox will be better yet 4-6 months in the future when Google gets around to copying what we have now.

I’m kind of bemused that it seems to take the multibillion multinational publicly traded company 4-6 months to badly copy and field my latest features.  Based on that, I guess I should give my small team a raise :-)

How can a tiny boot-strapped company like SaneBox win when competing with Google?

We will win because we will provide real honest and personal customer service and a better product that people will be happy to pay for.

We will win because we will make sure that every 6 months there will be something more for Google to copy.

We will win because users want choice.  Priority Inbox has been out there for 6 months.  It’s free.  It’s bundled.  And it doesn’t stop users from choosing to pay for SaneBox.  Users want choice.  And those that can afford it, want the best product available.

Just yesterday, Nate Berkopec tweeted:

“Just paid for @sanebox. $5/month for email sanity is a small, small price to pay.”

We will win because everyone needs email sanity. 

In the end, gmail will keep trying to copy us and we will keep innovating. But, I will never give up on gmail because I like the challenge and I love my gmail users.

And for those that worry needlessly, SaneBox will be available on every single non-gmail email distribution platform soooooon :-)