Gmail is fast becoming the most popular web-based email platform. This is for several reasons. It’s free, it provides a lot of free storage (7+ GB and counting), and it’s provided by one of the internet’s most well-known brands: Google.

However, some people are not completely satisfied with the service that Gmail offers. One of the biggest complaints is contextual advertising. It can be disconcerting when you get an email from your dad asking if he’s going to the New York Giants football game and see that Google has placed multiple ads around the email asking you to buy Giants tickets. It seems as if Google is reading our emails!

If this describes you, then this guide might be helpful to you. These are some of the best free alternatives to Gmail for email on the Internet.

1. Yahoo! Email

yahoo! Mail got off to an early start by providing free email accounts, and they are still by far the most popular webmail service. As of March 2010, Yahoo! Mail actually had more traffic in the US than all other email websites combined! Yahoo offers free email with unlimited storage space. One drawback to their service is that they say they will delete all your messages if your account is not accessed for 4 months.

2. Windows Live Mail

This is the second most popular email service in the United States. Formerly known as Hotmail, MSN Live Mail gives you 5 GB of storage and a choice of domains for your email. You can choose an @hotmail, @live, or @msn email address. They also allow you to consolidate all your other email accounts into their interface. This is useful if you have a Yahoo! email account or you would still like to view your old Gmail emails through a new interface.

3.Secret mail

For people looking for an alternative to Google for privacy reasons, Hushmail can be a good option. Although they have never been very popular, Hushmail has a high customer satisfaction rating dating back to 1999. This service automatically encrypts every email you send. If regular emails are like sending a postcard, then Hushmail allows you to send sealed envelopes. They offer 2GB of free storage, but you can pay more if you ever need it.