Google has added a new tool called “Priority Inbox” to its Gmail service, designed to help people wade through their overflowing e-mail inboxes.
The feature uses formulas developed by Google engineers to automatically figure out and highlight which incoming messages are likely to be the most important to each Gmail user.
Users who opt to turn on the Priority Inbox will see their messages separated into three categories. “Important and unread” e-mails will be at the top followed by messages that have been previously stamped with a star by an accountholder. Everything else appears at the bottom.
Switching back to the standard view of the inbox can be done with a click on a link along the left side of the Web page.
Google’s e-mail analysis is based on a variety of factors, including a person’s most frequent contacts and how many other people are getting the same message.
The content of the e-mail also is factored into the equation.
With more than 100 daily e-mails pouring into some inboxes now, people now need help to identify “the bacon and baloney” along with the spam, said Keith Coleman, Gmail’s product director.
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