All new Gmail Labs features and apps are announced by a casual blog post on the Gmail blog. This low-key launch is designed to support the idea that the new features are merely "experimental."

Don't buy it. You can't!

Despite tossing around the words "beta" and "experimental," the reality is that Google simply co-opts these words from the world of for-pay software in order to protect itself from scrutiny and criticism.

Because Google's "experimental" and "beta" products and features attract millions of people to choose Google over its competitors, it is also fair game to criticize these same offerings and use them as reasons why you might want to avoid Google and instead embrace Google's competitors.

How much money has Google made from Gmail? The business model is and will always be an "attract users and sell advertising" proposition, regardless of when it arbitrarily chooses to remove the word "beta" from the Gmail logo. So what makes it "beta," exactly?