View source for Mail.com

{{Short description|Web portal and web-based email service provider}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Penske Media Corporation]], formerly Mail.com Media}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{lowercase title}}{{Advert|date=December 2023}}{{Infobox website
| name = Mail.com
| logo = Mailcomlogo23.png
| logo_size = 150px
| company_type = [[Webmail]] [[Internet service provider|provider]]
| traded_as =
| foundation =
| founder =
| dissolved =
| location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| locations =
| incorporated =
| area_served = USA, Europe (Except German-speaking countries). No longer accepts new registration of account in worldwide, including Asia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=We're very sorry – we can't sign you up - mail.com help|url=https://support.mail.com/info/reject.html|access-date=2021-09-17|website=support.mail.com|language=en}}</ref>
| industry = Internet
| products =
| services = Email, Cloud
| revenue =
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| owner =
| num_employees =
| parent = [[United Internet]]
| divisions =
| subsid =
| url = {{URL|https://www.mail.com}}
| alexa =
| advertising = Yes
| registration = Yes
| num_users =
| language = English, Spanish, French
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1995}}
| current_status =
| screenshot =
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}}
'''mail.com''' is a web portal and web-based email service provider owned by the internet company 1&1 Mail & Media Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About mail.com – The right email address for everyone |url=https://www.mail.com/company/about/ |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.mail.com}}</ref> 1&1 Mail & Media Inc. is a subsidiary of [[United Internet]] Group, a publicly listed internet services company based in Montabaur, Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/09/20/mail-com-media/|title=Mail.com Media Sells Mail.com To United Internet Group|last=Tsotsis|first=Alexia|date=|work=TechCrunch.com|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref>
==Services==
mail.com provides email service and cloud storage, offering a selection of more than 100 email domain names for the creation of email addresses.<ref>{{cite web |author= |date= 26 July 2022|title=Best free email service 2023: Send messages for free |url=https://www.toptenreviews.com/best-free-email-service |access-date=July 19, 2023 |work=toptenreviews.com}}</ref>
===Domains===
mail.com provides more than 100 brand-neutral email domains that have geographical locations, professions, beliefs and interests, such as email.com, usa.com, religious.com, graphic-designer.com, and catlover.com.<ref>{{cite web |author= |date= |title=Mail.com Review |url=https://www.techradar.com/reviews/mailcom-review |access-date=July 19, 2023 |work=toptenreviews.com}}</ref>
===Security===
mail.com requires a personal phone number to set up an account. A verification of a mobile phone number is required if users want to enable [[two-factor authentication]] (2FA), a form of [[multi-factor authentication]], followed by the configuration of [[Time-based One-Time Password]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Two-factor authentication - mail.com help|url=https://support.mail.com/security/2fa/|access-date=10 March 2021|website=www.mail.com}}</ref> If 2FA has been enabled for an account, logging in to that email account requires a dynamically generated code.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=How Two-Factor Authentication Keeps Your Accounts Safe|url=https://www.wired.com/story/protect-accounts-two-factor-authentication/|magazine=Wired|last1=Nield|first1=David}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Two-factor authentication statistics: A good password is not enough|url=https://dataprot.net/statistics/two-factor-authentication-statistics/|website=www.dataprot.net|date=10 April 2023 }}</ref>
All mail.com customers' private data stored in the company-owned data center located in Lenexa, Kansas, United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=mail.com Press Room |url=https://www.mail.com/blog/tags/press_release/ |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=www.mail.com}}</ref> mail.com uses [[Transport Layer Security|SSL]] to ensure secure data transfer via the internet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ssl-mail.com Domain Reputation Report |url=https://www.ipqualityscore.com/domain-reputation/ssl-mail.com |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=www.ipqualityscore.com}}</ref> Both in the mail.com account and on the online portal, users' data is processed in compliance with legal requirements. mail.com also offers configuration options to control interest-based advertising and newsletter settings.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |title=Data Protection with mail.com FreeMail |url=https://www.mail.com/company/data-collection/8537828-privacy-mailcom-mail.html |access-date=24 June 2020 |website=www.mail.com}}</ref>
mail.com email accounts have an antivirus that scans through emails and attachments, while only checking for [[malware]]. The anti-spam filter also helps detect junk mail and automatically sorts it into the spam folder.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Email Spam has met its match {{!}} mail.com|url=https://www.mail.com/mail/spam-filter/|access-date=24 June 2020|website=www.mail.com}}</ref>
=== Alias email addresses ===
An alias address allows users to customize the sender email address shown in their correspondence by creating an additional email address within an existing mail.com account. Up to ten alias addresses can be registered at the same time, all associated with the main mail.com email account. This feature enables the use of multiple email addresses from a single mailbox.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fischer|first=Stacy|date=|title=These Are the 11 Best Email Accounts You Can Use for Free Right Now|url=https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-email-accounts-1356641|access-date=4 June 2020|website=Lifewire}}</ref>
==History==
mail.com was originally formed in 1995 as Vanity Mail Services (corporate name Globecomm Inc.),<ref name=pr>{{cite press release |url= http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18595495_ITM |title=EasyLink Services Corp. To Appear on MN1.com |publisher=M2 Communications |date=6 September 1996}}</ref> by Gerald Gorman, an investment banker at [[Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette]], and Gary Millin, a Harvard Business School student at the time.<ref name=wsj1>{{Cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB918682985999438500?mod=googlewsj |title=Mail.com Intends to Profit by Giving Away Its Product |first=Andrea |last=Peterson |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York |date=11 February 1999}}</ref>
They spent a majority of Gorman's wealth<ref name=wsj1/> to register and promote a total of 544 domains, and later began to buy domain names from other companies.  At one time the company owned more than 1,200 domains on speculation, including world.com, usa.com, india.com, europe.com, asia.com, doctor.com, scientist.com, and lawyer.com.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lawson |first1=Stephen |title=Mail.com Buys Chinese Portal, Plans World.com |url= https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/93279/mail_com_buys_chinese_portal_plans_world_com/ |website=ComputerWorld |accessdate=1 August 2017 |date=28 March 2000}}</ref> To raise money to pay the yearly domain registration fees, they offered [[vanity domain]] email services to the public<ref name=forbes>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2000/06/02/feat.html|title=Mail.com Shouldn't Stay Master of Its Domains |first=Michael |last=Bociurkiw |work=Forbes|date=2 June 2000}}</ref> from the domains they owned under the brand name iName,<ref name=forbes/> and later began hosting mail services on behalf of the owners of other domains, and for [[Internet service providers]]. The speculation was often successful. In 1999 the company sold kosher.com, london.com, and england.com for $2 million.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB929558579733458161?mod=googlewsj |title=European Firms Pay Big Money to Obtain '.Com' Domain Names |first=Stephanie |last=Gruner |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York |date=17 June 1999}}</ref>
By 1999 the company had raised [[venture financing]] from Primus Capital Funds and Sycamore Ventures, and changed its name to mail.com. It conducted an [[initial public offering]] in June 1999.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.cnet.com/Mail.com-surges-on-ISP-deals/2100-12_3-258869.html |title=Mail.com surges on ISP deals |first=Larry |last=Barrett |work=Cnet |date=30 June 1999}}</ref> By 2000 it was supporting 14.6 million email accounts, mostly for free, and remained unprofitable.<ref name=forbes/>  It sold the mail.com domain and consumer email services division to [[Net2Phone]],<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.cnet.com/Outages-delay-Mail.com-service/2100-1023_3-268839.html |title=Outages delay Mail.com service |first=Gwendolyn |last=Mariano |work=Cnet |date=21 June 2001}}</ref> changed its name to Easylink, and changed its business operations to focus on [[managed file transfer]] services in April 2001, after acquiring Swift Telecommunications, which in turn had [[Corporate spin-off|spun off]] the "Easylink" business unit from [[AT&T]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/582331|title=Mail.com to Acquire Swift Telecommunications, Including AT&T's EasyLink |website= internetnews.com |date=21 February 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2001/tc2001075_177.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20010707145101/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2001/tc2001075_177.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 7 July 2001 |title=On the Third Try, a Dot-Com Charm? |first=Faith |last=Keenan |newspaper=Business Week |date=4 July 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_April_2/ai_72584488/ |title=Mail.com Changes Corporate Name and Identity to EasyLink Services Corporation |publisher=Easylink |date=2 April 2001}}</ref>
In 2002, [[AltaVista]] quit the email service business they had served together with Mail.com under its i-name branding. Addresses using "AltaVista" domains were eventually closed; other email domains once offered by AltaVista remain operational through Mail.com.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/21338/altavista_close_free_us_e-mail_accounts_next_month/ | title=AltaVista to close free US e-mail accounts next month - PC World Australia }}</ref>
In 2004 [[Jay Penske]], son of [[automobile racing]] figure [[Roger Penske]], joined and became CEO of Velocity Services, an [[affinity marketing]] and Internet services company operating as Interactive Digital Publishing Group.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Shipnuck |first=Alan |date=12 July 2004 |title=Hitting Cleanup |url=https://www.si.com/vault/2004/07/12/376446/hitting-cleanup-in-a-12-year-major-league-career-nails-was-best-known-for-his-hard-living-and-down-and-dirty-style-so-how-did-he-polish-up-his-act-by-opening-an-upscale-chain-of-car-washes |magazine=Sports Illustrated |volume=101 |issue=2 |page=89 |access-date=26 October 2017}}</ref> The company acquired the mail.com domain, and re-launched it as a new service in 2007.<ref name=delivers>{{cite news |url= http://pulse2.com/2008/10/22/quadrangle-capital-wi-harper-group-and-novel-tmt-ventures-delivers-35-million-to-mailcom/ |title=Quadrangle Capital, WI Harper Group, and Novel TMT Ventures Delivers $35 Million to Mail.com |first=Amit |last=Chowdhry |work=Pulse2 |date=22 October 2008 |access-date=7 October 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141221055735/http://pulse2.com/2008/10/22/quadrangle-capital-wi-harper-group-and-novel-tmt-ventures-delivers-35-million-to-mailcom/ |archive-date=21 December 2014 |url-status= dead}}</ref> Parent company [[Mail.com Media]] Corporation (MMC) went on to acquire content websites such as ''[[Deadline Hollywood]]'', [[Movieline]] and the [[Boy Genius Report]].
In September 2010, MMC sold the mail.com email and portal service to [[United Internet]], at the time already Europe's largest internet company,<ref name="Corporation">{{Cite press release|last=Corporation|first=Mail com Media|title=MMC Announces Strategic Transaction With Europe's Largest Internet Company|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mmc-announces-strategic-transaction-with-europes-largest-internet-company-103398639.html|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en}}</ref> which intended to operate mail.com on its [[GMX Mail|GMX email]] platform. While existing accounts could be accessed from anywhere, users accessing the site from German-speaking countries could no longer sign up and were instead invited to use United Internet's GMX services geared to those markets (gmx.de, gmx.at, gmx.ch). In purchasing the mail.com brand, United Internet was aiming to leverage the unique character of the mail.com name and its many domains as part of its push for international expansion.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mail.com Media Sells Mail.com To United Internet Group|url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/09/20/mail-com-media/|access-date=2021-01-19|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref> At the time of the purchase CEO Jan Oetjen noted, "On the highly competitive international e-mail market, we perceive mail.com as a unique opportunity for differentiation which cannot be copied."<ref name="Corporation"/>
In the first quarter of 2016, mail.com launched a new support and contact portal, offering improved usability and FAQs for its customers. The first mail.com mobile email app for Android users was released in February 2016, complementing its iOS app. A mobile webmailer was also rolled out.
In June 2020, mail.com celebrated its 25th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Email pioneer mail.com celebrates 25 years of reliable service and unique domain names|url=https://www.mail.com/blog/posts/25th-anniversary-press-release/6/|access-date=2022-02-15|website=www.mail.com}}</ref>
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==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.mail.com/mail/ mail.com Email]
[[Category:Internet technology companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1995]]
[[Category:Webmail]]