Google Opens Gmail Signups Further
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After opening its formerly invitation-only Gmail webmail service to anyone with a mobile phone in August 2005, Google removed that requirement Wednesday. Now, anyone can signup for a Gmail account by creating a Google Account.
The mobile phone requirement was designed to prevent Gmail accounts from being created by robots and stop spammers from signing up multiple times. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Gmail signup URL still redirected users to the SMS-based method, but a support article on Google's site says the world is now welcome without an invitation or phone.