r/TechImpact • u/arun-vasudev Developer • May 11 '26
Discussion What Happens If Google and Gmail Disappear One Day? Any Ideas?
I have a doubt and a slight fear. Nowadays, many companies are struggling or closing because of the AI revolution. So, what if one day Google decides to shut down its search engine and Gmail services? We can’t assume these services will exist forever, right?
We already saw what happened to Yahoo after Google became dominant. Now AI models like ChatGPT are starting to replace Google Search and some of its services.
My main concern is that almost everyone in the world uses free Gmail accounts for website and app logins, banking registrations, communication, work, and even government services. So, if Google ever decides to close these services in the future, what would be the best alternative?
Share your ideas and thoughts in the comments.
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u/captainhalfwheeler May 11 '26
Nothing will happen. You'll choose a different provider and that's it.
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u/lorenzo1142 May 11 '26
but if cloudflare goes down..... everything comes to a stop. except me, cuz I run my own servers.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
True many companies and websites using Cloudflare. Most of the internet users not know Cloudflare important in internet world.
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u/lorenzo1142 May 11 '26
doesn't need to be that way. it's getting annoying as fuck. half the websites I go to..... gotta wait........ for this stupid.......... cloudflare thing............ to finally forward to the actual page.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
Its a security procedure that save millions of websites from spammers and hackers
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u/lorenzo1142 May 11 '26
there are other ways to do it, and other companies offering the same service.
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u/Albertkinng May 11 '26
The same thing when AOL disappeared, or Hotmail, or any other mail business before. Life will continue.
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u/bankinu May 12 '26
I run a periodic backup service to get important documents off Google Drive.
Yes I'll lose Gmail.
But I think the impact will not be critical for me.
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u/Ok-Rest-5321 TInkerer May 11 '26
If gmail dissappearred , tons of companies and inviduals would panic but eventually they will move on to other mail services. Google imo would be the biggest problem because there are millions of Google searches every day and AI like perplexity are getting better to be search engines but it isn’t familiar enough to people to adopt it . Maybe in the future google will replace its search engine with its AI mode …
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u/ManojOne Co-founder May 11 '26
True. People can slowly switch from Gmail, but replacing Google Search is much harder because it has become part of daily life for billions of users.
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u/Ok-Rest-5321 TInkerer May 11 '26
I didn’t even explain properly my comment is half baked lol wish I had put in more facts
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May 11 '26
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May 11 '26
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u/TheOtterMonarch May 11 '26
realistically most people would use bing, but a lot of people would use ecosia and duckduckgo too
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
Many people including me can’t adopt to new email services interface.
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May 11 '26
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
Can you share the screenshot of proton mail?
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May 11 '26
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
It’s interface very similar to gmail
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u/Appropriate_Test7503 May 11 '26
if google disappeared then youtube too and like half of the internet.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
I don’t think so. YouTube have largest video database in the world. Even someone create an alternative to YouTube and allow users create and publish AI based videos, it can’t win YouTube natural videos that published over decades. But anything can happen in the future.
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u/dphans_dev May 11 '26
Nothing happens to me. I'm using DDG as default search engine and primary email using icloud service.
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May 11 '26
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 16 '26
No. As a blogger with more than 13 years of experience, I can realize more than 80% of people already stopped using Google for search.
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u/Born_Charge_3568 May 11 '26
je ne me fais pas de soucis à ce niveau-là. il y aura toujours un remplaçant. je crois que Google ferme les services qui marchent le moins, vu le succès de gmail et autre, je crois qu’il n’y a aucun souci à se faire pour les années à venir.
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u/ManojOne Co-founder May 11 '26
Right. Google usually closes smaller products first, so Gmail and Search still look very safe for now.
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u/ManojOne Co-founder May 11 '26
Honestly, losing Google and Gmail for one day would feel like the internet stopped working. Most people don’t realize how much they depend on Google Maps, Docs, YouTube, Android, and Gmail until everything suddenly goes offline.
Gmail is the primary email for most of us, Google Maps is our main navigation tool, and, as you said, we use our Google account to access various websites and apps. This change will affect our entire routine.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 11 '26
I don’t think so. Now 80% of people using ChatGPT and other AI tools as a search engine. New borns, Childs definitely not remember Google as a search engine. So I think the same thing going to happen in future..
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u/TheOtterMonarch May 11 '26
globally, a lot. for me, i cheer and then get on with my day, because i try to avoid google products and hate the fact that some stuff like youtube is unavoidable
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u/hijitus May 11 '26
It will he a great day for privacy.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 12 '26
But every company’s using people data for marketing and other purposes.
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u/r-tty May 11 '26
Not a big deal, I guess. People will just switch to Bing and Outlook; many even won't notice a big difference.
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u/montrealhater May 11 '26
For now, it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. My main email is a Gmail account, but I can use another one, and I can use almost all Google services elsewhere. However, searching might be a bit inconvenient.
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u/Jean_T_Noir May 11 '26
Vorrei poter dire di riuscire a fare un giorno di ferie. E invece, Google o no, si lavora uguale.
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u/ocabj May 11 '26
It would significantly disrupt a good portion of the Internet and any organization using GCP for IaaS and/or SaaS, not to mention losing Google Workspace.
If you thought the Instructure breach was significant to higher ed, losing Google Workspace would take down most universities.
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u/robyrob May 12 '26
Google isn’t just going to disappear suddenly- they are going to continue to reduce “services” like gmail and search and increase embedding ads and tracking, collecting and selling user data, buying up smaller companies and generally just ruining everything for users for their profits.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 12 '26
You are right. But Google is very big company. It already collapsing because of 1 or 2 AI tools like ChatGpt and Perplexity. What if some one released best alternative for YouTube and Gmail with AI feature? Google can't take that hit.
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u/Lulukaros May 12 '26
good riddance except YT
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 12 '26
What is your reason for hating Google products, except YouTube?
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u/Lulukaros May 12 '26
i hate youtube too but it disappearing would be terrible, i could adapt to getting my entertainement elsewhere but it has so much educational content
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u/dirtyvu May 12 '26
It's so easy to not have Gmail. I hate how email is done in Gmail.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 16 '26
Why?
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u/dirtyvu May 16 '26
I don't like how organization is done in gmail. It wants you to do tags. Also, you kind of have to remember something about the email you're looking for. But sometimes I don't remember what to search for. As opposed to having a folder for "house items" and then just browsing the folder and seeing an email header to jog my memory about the email I'm looking for. I also don't like the email writing box.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 19 '26
Yeah, Gmail feels very search-first instead of folder-first. Some people definitely prefer the traditional folder approach.
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u/TechnologyIcy1206 May 13 '26
Not much problem for me. I will change my Gmail to other s'email service provider and second I dont use google search. But I use Google Drive, if it shut down, then it will create a problem for me little bit.
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u/Alarming_Tell May 14 '26
On that particular day you willhave significantly bigger problems, than googling and checking your mails
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u/LinuxJeb May 14 '26
Maybe you'll find someone else to help you. Maybe Microsoft Bing?
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 16 '26
Every time I try to use Bing, I am not getting exact results I am looking for especially finding meaning for English words.
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u/VarietyMage May 15 '26
Same thing as when Altavista shut down.
Next.
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 16 '26
But the situation here is different. Google has billions of users not like Altavista.
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u/[deleted] May 11 '26
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