Ask Dave Taylor: Tech and Business

Monday

I have Gmail, why don't I have any Gmail invites?

Dave, this is driving me crazy! I've been on Gmail for almost a month now, but I still don't have an invitation box: how can I invite my friends to get their own Gmail accounts?

This is one of the most common questions I see, actually. I've written quite frequently about Google's Gmail service, including the most relevant article to this question: How Do I Invite People to Join Gmail, but i haven't talked much about how Google doles out invitations.

First off, let me say that when you get a Gmail account, don't expect to immediately get invitations so that you can invite your friends and associates to get Gmail accounts too.

I believe that there are two reasons for this reticence on the part of Gmail...