May 20, 2011, 9:44 AM — Google is undoubtedly the Web's best resource for getting stuff done, but let's face it, it's not perfect.
A few weeks ago, my Gmail account was going crazy. My inbox appeared to be locked in a frozen state of "Still Working..." Then a Google search went haywire, thanks to a combination of a typo (my bad) and Google's auto-complete feature, coupled with Google Instant Search.
Sometimes I just want to kill Google dead. Here are my top pet peeves about Google, starting with Gmail.
Gmail Is Buggy
Almost everyone I know who has Gmail has complained about its unexplainable slowness. Gmail has been out of beta for two years now--following five years of beta status. Shouldn't Google have all the Gmail kinks ironed out by now?
I wonder, is there a Gmail Bermuda Triangle where e-mail gets lost? I frequently hear people complain of delays between the time e-mail is sent and when it arrives. Delays can be hours and sometimes up to a day. Occasionally, messages fail to show up at all.
Google does offer troubleshooting on delayed e-mails. But even after carefully reviewing Google's Q&As on the topic, it's still a mystery why Gmail sent to another Gmail user is delayed.
Other Gmail curiosities are the times the Gmail interface is grayed out for some unknown reason and file attachments are mysteriously renamed. According to Google, Gmail will rename your attachments to things as obtuse as "noname" if the file is spelled with nonstandard ASCII characters. Mystery solved!
Gmail Conversation View
Gmail's conversation view is nice...until you have 50-plus messages from different people in a single thread. When this happens, finding the one message you need is nearly impossible. PCWorld's Liane Cassavoy points out that Gmail's conversation view is akin to sweeping everything off of your desk and into a drawer--it makes your desktop (Inbox) look pretty, but your drawer (conversation) is still a huge mess.
Note: Yes, you can turn Conversation View off. See Liane's "Why I Hate Gmail's Conversation View ."
Gmail Viewing Limits
How come, when you search Gmail for something, you can view only 20 messages at a time? My inbox is set to let me view 100 messages at a time, but internal search results only appear in groups of 20 per page. Needless to say, this can be annoying if I'm trying to find that e-mail about the Las Vegas hotel I stayed in 10 months ago.
While I'm on the topic of message viewing limits, why does Gmail limit the inbox view to 100 messages at a time (you can choose 25, 50, or 100 at a time, but nothing higher)? Why not 150, or 200, or even 250?
Are You Sure You Want to Send That Without a Subject?
YES, GOOGLE, I'M SURE. I never use subject lines, much to the chagrin of my friends and family. Google appears to be on the side of my friends and family, because every time I try to send a subject-less e-mail it pops up an annoying notification: "Send message without a subject?" As far as I'm aware, there is no way to disable this.
Relevant Ads...in My Mail
Look, I'm all for relevant advertising. If I'm going to see ads anyway, why wouldn't I want to see ads that are relevant to me? But targeted advertising...in my Inbox? I know, I know; Google isn't reading my e-mail, and what is really happening is that some mindless Google machine is pairing keywords with ads. But ads based on private missives magnifies that icky lack-of-online-privacy feeling. Please, Google, keep out.
Instant Search Is On by Default
