When was mail.google.com built?

Estimated launch

January 2005

Some historical evidence exists, but the available signals don't fully agree or are limited.

Website age

~22 years

From estimated launch

google.com registered

September 1997

Not the launch date

First evidence

January 2005

Internet Archive (Wayback Machine)

Current version

After January 2016

Changed since the last archived copy

History at a glance

The domain and the website have separate lives. Website age is measured from the launch, not from registration.

Timeline

1. September 1997

   google.com registered

   The domain was registered. This is not the same as the website launching.

   Recorded

2. July 2004 – January 2005

   Estimated launch

   Based on: first archived copy of the website.

   Medium confidenceView evidence

3. Between January and November 2005

   Possible major redesign

   Page structure changed substantially (3% similar).

   Low confidenceBeforeAfter

4. After January 2016

   Changed since the last archived copy

   Page structure changed substantially (1% similar).

   Low confidenceLast archived copy

5. October 2026

   Current website

   “Gmail”

   RecordedVisit

Why we think mail.google.com launched in 2005

• First archived copy of the website: January 2005.
• Parent domain google.com registered: September 1997 (88 months earlier).

1. September 1997

   Parent domain google.com registered

   google.com was registered on this date. mail.google.com can't be older than its parent domain, but may be much newer.

   Launch can't be earlier (+2 pts)RDAP registry dataView source

2. January 2005

   First archived copy of the website

   The earliest successful snapshot of the homepage showing real website content in the Internet Archive.

   Basis of the estimate (+27 pts)Internet Archive (Wayback Machine)View source

Built with today

Detected on the live homepage. Select a technology to see the evidence.

No common technologies were detected with enough confidence to report.

Domain

Registered (google.com)

15 September 1997

Registration expires

14 September 2028

Registry record updated

9 September 2019

Registrar

MarkMonitor Inc.

Nameservers

ns1.google.com, ns2.google.com, ns3.google.com, ns4.google.com

Public registry data via RDAP. Registrant details are never collected.

What we checked

• Domain registry (RDAP)Checked
• Internet Archive indexChecked
• Live websiteChecked
• Archived page comparisonChecked

95 months of archived homepage copies; 12 compared in detail. BuiltWhen estimates from observable evidence and can be wrong. How estimates work