> Without the scanning of email done by google, everyone would have to pay for their email services.

On reflection I think that would be a good thing.

At present > 95% of Google's revenue comes from advertising. Thousands of staff are involved in designing and implementing 'improved' advertising systems. Millions of hours are consumed by this every year.

If Google was forced to transition to a subscription service for Gmail it might force a general shift in their revenue model. I contend all that brain power could be redeployed to doing amazing things, rather than refining AdWords .