Google: Why do we let this creepy company spy on our emails?

Because we've weighed the costs and benefits? I don't use it for anything particularly important--it gets to see the coupons Borders sends me, the HN Monthly, and that's about it.

I don't personally use these services, so I can't confirm this myself, but does anyone know if this statement is/could be true?

"On the one hand it is free, but then so are Hotmail and Yahoo - which both also rely on advertising, but which don't appear to trawl through your emails and hit you with intrusive ads within milliseconds."

I find it hard to believe that Yahoo and Hotmail don't target ads... seems to me that maybe Google just does a better job.

Agreed. "Hurrah for the Blackshirts", "Sturdy Young Nazis" and all that.