Although it was just launched last week, the antivirus scan tools included in Google's webmail service are already being criticized, several users saying they are disappointed with the solution provided by the search engine.

The complaints registered so far circle around three major aspects of the antivirus solution, primarily the fact this scanning feature can't be turned off at all. A second reason for users to show disapproval is the fact the virus protection prevents users by default from sending any executable file. The third reason for users to find this new feature somewhat odd is the fact Google will under no circumstance unveil the identity of the antivirus producer who designed this solution.

Google and Gmail representatives claim to always keep track of the feedback received from users, but this time they announced that the filtering antivirus solution will remain in place and it's not going to be offered to users as an optional extension of the webmail service. Also, the automatic blockage of executables is not going to be stopped just because a few users find it is more important to send whatever file they want (including malware) than have the certainty of being better protected.

Disabling the virus scanning is however useful for users who occasionally need to send an infected file for reporting purposes to an antivirus producer.