Here's to 25 years together!

mail.com celebrates 25 amazing years

Twenty-five years is a big deal in the tech world – not many email providers can say they’ve been around for that long. When mail.com was launched, some people still weren’t sure if this electronic mail thing would really catch on for private use. But a quarter-century later, mail.com is still going strong. And while our customers appreciate the things that haven’t changed – like our great service and keeping the same free, personalized email address for years – we have continued to innovate. So join us in saluting 25 years of mail.com and looking ahead to many more to come!

How did mail.com get its start?

The year is 1995. Sony releases the PlayStation in North America and Microsoft launches Windows 95. Toy Story, the first full-length computer animated feature film, is in theaters. The dot-com boom is just revving up, and although the DVD format is developed this year, it won’t be available to consumers until 1996.  And mail.com is formed as Vanity Mail Services, part of Globecomm Inc., by Gerald Gorman and Gary Millin.

The founders’ strategy was to register more than 500 domains, setting their company apart from nineties giants like AOL and CompuServe, who offered users a range of online services in conjunction with an email address featuring the company domain name. If you wanted something unique, you had to look elsewhere – and many of mail.com’s users jumped at the chance to create a free email account with a fun name like jessica@elvisfan.com or burnish their professional image with michael.smith@accountant.com.

Does mail.com still exist?

It might seem strange after all this time, but we still get that question! And indeed, mail.com’s original business model was so successful that it attracted international attention. In 2010 mail.com was purchased by the United Internet Group, Europe's leading internet specialist, which is also known in the United States for its 1&1 and GMX brands. Today, supported by its multiple-award-winning webmail system, mail.com continues to provide top email service to millions of users.

“We are exceptionally proud to be marking the 25th anniversary of mail.com,” says CEO Jan Oetjen. “It was founded in 1995 – the early days of personal email – and few other email providers today can look back on so many years in the game. The initial strategy of offering unique domain names has more than paid off, as has the creation of @mail.com as an easy-to-remember and neutral alternative to provider-based addresses. By joining the United Internet Group, mail.com has been able to offer its users cutting-edge technology, security and privacy protection. Our longstanding presence has made us a trusted brand that our customers know they can rely on, and we will continue to build on these valued relationships for the next 25 years and more.”

What does mail.com have to offer today?

Email is what we do. So we continuously strive to do it well. We know that users rely on our platform and interface. With that in mind, we make sure they can access their email however it’s most convenient to them, from mobile apps to browser add-ons. And we are moving into our next quarter-century with popular features like cloud storage, 30 MB attachments, a mail collector that makes it easy to maintain multiple email accounts, and online office solutions.
 
mail.com is widely known as a safe and secure email provider. Although the term “spamming” was coined in the early nineties, back then most email users didn’t have to worry about their mailboxes overflowing with unwanted messages. Today mail.com customers are protected from this flood by our powerful spam blockers and inbox filters. The mail.com brand may also predate modern data protection concerns, but we make sure we adhere to the latest data privacy standards.

But can I still choose my domain name?

Absolutely! Unique domains are how mail.com made its name, and we still offer more than 200 for users to choose from. It’s not all just fun and games (although there are plenty of names related to interests and hobbies) – our customers appreciate the options for creating addresses that are appropriate for their professional lives. And they are not just limited to one: each user can have up to ten email addresses – known as aliases – in a single mail.com account.

What do people say about mail.com?

Whether they’ve been with us for a few months, several years or from day one – and some really have been around that long – our customers truly appreciate the unique nature of mail.com. Long-time users love the fact that they haven’t had to change their email address for decades, making it an integral part of their online identity. And everyone raves about our reliability, usability, and the reduced exposure to spam.

Like you said, 25 years is a big deal! How is mail.com celebrating?

 We’ll be celebrating online for the entire month of June. Join the mail.com team for birthday fun on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. We can’t wait to see you there!

For the press release visit our Press Room.