Google has long been known as the leader in email, but it hasn’t always been that way. In 1997, AOL was the world’s largest email provider with around ten million subscribers, but other providers were making headway.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/07/a-brief-look-at-gmails-product-development-process
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/07/a-brief-look-at-gmails-product-development-process