Gmail moves past AOL as No. 3 web e-mail service in U.S.

Google's Gmail is now the third-largest Web e-mail service in the U.S., surpassing AOL e-mail with 37 million monthly unique users, according to new comScore estimates for July 2009 via TechCrunch.

That puts Gmail second only to Windows Live Hotmail, with 47 million unique users, and Yahoo! Mail, with 106 million unique users. (In comparison, AOL counts 36.4 million unique users.)

It was only a bit more than a month ago that Google's e-mail service finally removed its longstanding "beta" label. The new comScore estimates mark a sea change: Gmail’s unique visitors grew 25 percent this year, while AOL’s declined 22 percent in the same period.

In comparison, Hotmail grew just 8 percent during the same period, while Yahoo! Mail increased unique visitors by 16 percent.

That puts Google Mail in striking distance of Microsoft's Hotmail.

Which web-based e-mail service do you use?

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