Hatts

Gmail and Yahoo lead the way when it comes to which email provider is preferred by young people. That’s according to data collected on the University of Georgia’s Admissions Web site, which asked potential students their opinion on the best email provider. Out of 891 respondents, 41 percent chose Gmail from Google, while 37 percent went with Yahoo.

Google has been making in-roads in the college sector, both with its free Web-based application and as an email hosting provider. They recently announced a deal to provide email for 1.3 million students in Australia, offering a challenge to companies such as Microsoft with a firm hold on the enterprise email space.

However, while incoming college students might be Web and email savvy, they apparently still rely on old-fashioned means of selecting a school. A separate University of Georgia poll showed that 62 percent of students thought that an in-person visit was the best way to learn about a college, compared with 19 percent who preferred to learn through Web research.