before i logged in to Gmail, it contained a link that says:
" Sign up for Gmail "

and it leads here:

https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount?service=mail&t=87ea2e6a-47a98ed9-ee2b161caf70dfc066f8&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2Fe-11-103fad392148ca90332e962e283246e5-8eda30545a597f4c50a33b6049a52226925c69fb&type=2

Gmail is no longer invitations only?

you can see it for yourselves :
http://gmail.com/

I had similar reports from Israel in my inbox today...
[Via Jane]

lol...
but wait a second..
is this true?
anyone can sign up for Gmail now?

David: seems like they quietly launched it for free registration in some countries, not all of them though.

Heise.de also announced free registration in Germany today but I can't reproduce it so far...

does this mean it will come out of beta too?

I would like to see a few more features in it first, and a bit of cleaning up of the interface, and speed increases. I don't want much ;)

It's available in Poland too

not in the uk

Available in France

ohh..
so its available in Israel too.. :P

screenshots –

English Version –

http://picasaweb.google.com/DavidHetfield/GoogleMore/photo#5028784295308459682

Hebrew Version –

http://picasaweb.google.com/DavidHetfield/GoogleMore/photo#5028784295308459698

Create a new Gmail account –

http://picasaweb.google.com/DavidHetfield/GoogleMore/photo#5028784295308459714

Don't know about you guys but within the same few hours I also was pushed the new "Mail Fetcher" feature.

Can I sign up without the invitation code? Or without a mobile phone?

Anyone in the world is now welcome to create a Gmail account at http://mail.google.com/mail/signup. Enjoy!

From: https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=22245

Google France made a press conference (Zorgloob was invited) this morning to announce that Gmail is now opened everywhere, that Gmail (java) for mobile is now translated in several languages and that Google Docs and Spreadsheets is now available in French.

<< Don't know about you guys but within the same few hours I also was pushed the new "Mail Fetcher" feature. >>

I noticed this was in my primary Gmail account last night too. Maybe it's been rolled out to everyone?

(I wish Gmail had version numbers like Google Spreadsheets so you could compare which version you were running...)

I've got the Mail Fetcher now but still haven't got the sign up thingy yet (UK)
<<Anyone in the world is now welcome to create a Gmail account>>
In the UK that redirects to the Log-in page.
Google lied to me! :-(
Suppose it dosn't matter to me though as I've already got an account.

Yes, if i log out, i see it too.
http://stefan2904.googlepages.com/screen-1757.jpg
in austria.

And here in german:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=382924365&size=l

And also in Czechia, it´s probably everywhere now. They even send us a press announcement.

Its also in the German WhatsNew List:
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/de/whatsnew.html

<<it´s probably everywhere now.>>
There's the link on the page now but it still redirects to the log-in page (the page I was already on)

I'm seeing the link in the UK now but it just reloads the page when you click it.

Note: it says "Sign up for Gmail" and not "Sign up for Google Mail" – they could probably get sued for that here... ;-)

BTW, David's original link [*] worked earlier. Now it shows this message:

<< Account Already Created

The link you followed to this page has already been used to create your Google Mail account. To access your account visit http://mail.google.com/mail and log in with the username and password you chose during registration. To create another Google Mail account, you'll need a shiny new account creation link. We apologize for the inconvenience. >>

[*] http://blogoscoped.com/forum/85477.html#id85477

http://googleitalia.blogspot.com/2007/02/grandi-novit-per-gmail.html
i don´t speak italian very well, but i think this is it!

Link working in UK now! Still says Gmail on link :-)

The Support Page no longer says everyone can sign it up...
"updated 2/7/2007"

Yep. While I saw the updated Help pages before, now they seem to have reverted to the old message. Can anyone else confirm this?

Was this a temporary glitch? If so, when will Google go ahead with this?

yes, i confirm this. but i can create a new account further on.

Available in Finland too, covered here:
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/doc.te?f_id=1110653

(news released at 10:20UTC)

Mysterius

me too..

They need to remember to take off the "Invite a friend" box . . . It's a bit pointless now . . .

lol..
yeah

even though the US still cant make a new account

"They need to remember to take off the "Invite a friend" box . . . It's a bit pointless now . . ."
Absolutely not! It's still a good way to allow users to invite their friends to Gmail :) The "word of mouth" ;)

Even if Google don't fully remove the Invite a Friend box, they should offer the user a way of removing it

Google seems to be hesitating with any blog posts about this. I think they're a bit sceptical.. because they told everyone it went public a while back (expect that was just for australia and japan).

[Moved from "Gmail now open to all in Europe!" – Tony]

It looks like Google has decided finally to allow anyone to sign up for Gmail accounts in Europe – no invitations or cell phone codes required!

People from the middle east, Africa, Brazil, Australia, Russia and Japan can also now easily sign up.

I'm in the UK and now see a big link on the Gmail login screen saying 'Sign up for Google Mail'. When clicking this, I'm taken to a screen allowing me to enter all my details and create the account.

This is exciting news, as it is a change in policy for Google (what happened to the idea of 'reducing spam by limiting signups'?) – will it be leaving beta soon?

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6338183.stm for more!

What's interesting from the BBC story that pjh links to is this footnote:

<< An earlier version of this story – based on a Google statement to the BBC – had reported that Gmail was now freely available around the world; however Google has now withdrawn this statement. >>

Does anyone have a screenshot or a saved version (from Google Desktop) of the earlier version of this page:

https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=22245 ?

It should contain:

<<Can I sign up without the invitation code? Or without a mobile phone?

Anyone in the world is now welcome to create a Gmail account at mail.google.com/mail/signup. Enjoy!>>

Thank you!

<< Does anyone have a screenshot or a saved version (from Google Desktop) of the earlier version of this page: >>

Yep. Yahoo does:

http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?u=mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py%3Fanswer%3D22245&d=OWooj-xsOQNx

ha ha..
cool Tony!! :)

According to this article:
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1352352.ece

Google is now planning to hopefully lift the current limitations on opening accounts in the USA, South America and Asia in the near future – meaning that anyone worldwide will be able to directly create a new account. Maybe they were planning to do this today (hence the original statements to the BBC and altered help page), but then changed their minds at the last minute?

[Moved from "Gmail drops invitation system in Europe?" – Tony]

Maybe it's already reported, but I can't seem to find it here.
http://www.bizreport.com/2007/02/google_removes_gmails_invitations-only_restrictions_in_europe_middle_east_africa_and_brazil.html