I sold an Item on ebay that required me to communicate with the customer via his gmail account. One hour after his reply to me, I received numerous emails from gmail telling me that my customer(whose full name is given) wishes to chat with me, the email then provides a link to subscribe to google chat system. I notified my customer who is unaware of this and hasnt opted in for any chat system. I provided the customer with the link that the google email contained so he could check for himself. After I had emailed this link I received another 4 emails from google with the same link.
I appreciate that google may advertise services to its own gmail users, but to approach people who have received emails from a gmail user to solicit unwanted chat offers in the name of the account holder seems to me to be suspect and possibly illegal. Please let me know quickly, as my customer feels that his privacy has been infringed.