Since launching the Google Apps Marketplace in March, Google Apps administrators have deployed integrated third party apps to more than one million users, and today we're excited to build on this momentum with the launch of a new Gmail API that lets Marketplace apps present relevant information to users right in Gmail, when they’re reading a message.

Contextual gadgets in Gmail – like YouTube, Google Docs and Picasa previews – intelligently display relevant information from other systems as you read your email, so you can be more efficient without leaving your inbox.

Starting today, third party developers can build Gmail contextual gadgets and distribute them in the Google Apps Marketplace. These gadgets can display information from social networks, business services, web applications and other systems, and users can interact with that data right within Gmail. Contextual gadgets are yet another example how the power of the web can outpace traditional business technology.



Several new contextual gadget integrations for Gmail are available to Google Apps customers in the Apps Marketplace today:
  • AwayFind lets you mark certain contacts or message topics as ‘Urgent’ and then alerts you via phone, SMS or IM when relevant messages arrive.
  • Kwaga displays social network profiles and lists recent email exchanges with people you correspond with.
  • Gist brings together information from across the web about people you’re corresponding with, providing rich person and company profiles, news and updates.
  • Pixetell detects email links to video messages created with Pixetell’s video software and lets you preview, comment on, and share those videos without leaving your inbox.
  • Smartsheet lets you access and update entries in Smartsheet’s sales pipeline and project management tool.
  • Xobni, Rapportive, Manymoon, Newmind Group, and BillFLO have also launched their own contextual gadget integrations.
Like any other application in the Google Apps Marketplace, a Google Apps domain administrator can install a contextual gadget from the Marketplace with just a few clicks. Both before and during the install process, administrators can review the portions of an email the gadget will have access to, and can revoke that permission at any time from their control panel. For more information on the Google Apps marketplace, watch the overview video.

To learn more about the new contextual gadget applications available in Gmail, head to the Google Apps Marketplace and browse for apps that have ‘Mail Integration’.

Posted by Chandrashekar Raghavan, Product Manager, Google Apps extensions

Editor's note: Gmail contextual gadgets are available to businesses, schools, and organizations using Google Apps. Domain administrators can purchase and install contextual gadgets along with other applications through the Google Apps marketplace.