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0 pointsdaigoba662y ago0 comments

Isn’t that functionally the same as “ignore dots”?

Meaning they can just strip out the dots when matching email addresses: either on login/signup or mail routing.

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9 comments · 3 top-level

nmeofthestate2y ago· 3 in thread

It is, but the key point is that this doesn't lead to people sending mail to the wrong address since nobody can sign up to "the wrong address" in the first place. There's one address allowed, aliased to all permutations.

ethbr12y ago

It does lead to people sending mail to the wrong address, from personal experience since Gmail was in beta. I've gotten sensitive emails and account signups with different dots for years.

But the cause of that appears to be user error -- people thinking they own email addresses that are not actually theirs.

InsomniacL2y ago

> I've gotten sensitive emails and account signups with different dots for years.

Please, please give an example..

Also, read this..

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7436150?hl=en#zippy=%...

> if your email is johnsmith@gmail.com, you own all dotted versions of your address

> If anyone tries to create a Gmail account with a dotted version of your username, they'll get an error saying the username is already taken.

> Your account is still private and secure. Emails sent to any dotted version of your address will only go to you.

2 more replies

jeroenhd2y ago

That's the point I think, the dots aren't causing any issues here, some people just assume their account is f.m.lastname@gmail.com and many of them are too stubborn to accept that it's not.

They never had an email address with or without dots that's made up of the same letters as your email address. Their email address is probably very different (maybe they forgot to add a number, or a middle initial, or typed Gmail when they should've typed Outlook). The dots are just a stylistic choice.

1 more reply

ludwik2y ago· 3 in thread

The point is "ignoring dots" doesn't lead to "constantly getting e-mail for other people" (because there are no other people that own the "dotted" version of the email).

dellamonica2y ago

It does though. My gmail account has a dot. For some reason someone with a similar name to mine must have for believed his address was the non dotted version of mine and to this day I keep getting emails addressed to this other person... and yes, it is a real person who I've managed to contact.

The point is that without the dots rule I'd never get those emails, and the senders would get their message bounced back right away.

xigoi2y ago

Without the dots rule, someone else would receive those e-mails, probably also not the intended recipient. Is that better?

rcarmo2y ago

This. This would save me days of time filtering mail.

citizenkeen2y ago

But they don't.

You can write rules on f.oo to go a different path than fo.o.

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