Gmail web search will now surface Spaces from your Google Workspace

Google’s push to make Spaces a better Slack or Microsoft Teams competitor continues by making them discoverable in Gmail search on the web.

At the moment, Gmail lets you search either “Mail” or “Chat & spaces.” Now, the latter filter is being split into “Messages” (which includes those in individual or group Chats) and “Spaces.” 

Ones in your domain that you’ve already joined will appear, with Gmail searching “names or descriptions that match your query.” Gmail will also surface “discoverable spaces and restricted spaces you’ve been invited to, but have yet to join.” You can immediately “Join” from the list of results or “Preview” first.

As the number of spaces within your organization continues to grow, we’re offering a better way for you to discover and find the exact space you’re looking for, while also providing a path to join spaces for specific teams, projects, shared interests, and more. 

This feature is rolling out now and will be fully available in the coming weeks for paid customers. It will be interesting to see how this gets implemented for free accounts, and whether there will be a public directory of Spaces that borders on Facebook Groups.

• Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
• Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

More on Gmail:

• Gmail proceeding with pilot that exempts political emails from spam after FEC approval
• Gmail’s new Material You redesign: How to revert to the original view
• Google brings Workspace Individual tier to Europe
• Gmail’s Material You web redesign widely rolling out [U]