Google and Lycos are arguing over Gigabytes. Google wants to give you one for your e-mail. Lycos wants to rent it to you.

To which I respond, big deal. (The image is from here.)

With spam as it is, it doesn't matter how much e-mail storage you're offering. I learned all about this a few days ago, when my Web site's mailboxes were mailbombed. I learned about the situation because the Web host said I was bumping up against my storage limits. Raise the storage limit and you just have a bigger problem when you're finally alerted.

With spam as it is, it doesn't matter how big your mailbox is. It will be filled. So what should differentiate these tools isn't the cost of the box (free or pay), and it isn't the amount of storage on-offer. It's the spam tools available, how easy it is to use them, and their cost.

That is becoming true for all Web hosting contracts too, by the way.