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Email, For Your Blog Or Domain

Periodically, we see questions about email delivery, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.
How do I setup email delivery, for my domain?
Long ago, this was fairly easy to setup. It won't be so easy for everybody, however.

Email delivery starts with the required DNS addresses - which are domain and registrar specific. Email for BlogSpot URLs is not possible - and email for custom domains will require specific domain services. Not all DNS hosting services will, automatically, provide email.

Domain email services are not part of custom domain publishing, as provided by Blogger.

They require specific services, provided by the DNS host / registrar, before any setup work can be done by a domain owner.

Email services requires 3 components, to handle incoming email for a given domain,.
  1. DNS addresses defining incoming email servers.
  2. Servers to handle the incoming email.
  3. Servers to provide desktop clients access, to read the email - or to forward incoming email to GMail or similar client services.
GMail - and possibly other desktop clients - have settings which let outgoing email use a domain specific email address, and which accept incoming email, forwarded by a registrar hosted email server. But the domain requires services provided by the registrar.

Google Apps provided email addresses, and email forwarding.

Long ago, many blog owners registered domains through Blogger, using "Buy a domain" - and Google Apps accounts, which provided email services for the domain purchased, were included in the domain registration. Setting up email for a domain was a simple 15 minute task in Google Apps.

In 2012, Google stopped packaging free Google Apps accounts - and later stopped providing domain registration through "Buy a domain". "Buy a domain" was actually discontinued in mid 2012 - then restarted shortly before Google Apps free accounts were discontinued.

Now, Google Domains provides email addresses, and forwarding.

When Google Domains started service in early 2015, we noted that they offer incoming email services, similar to Google Apps email. For Google customers in the USA, this is a good solution; but Google Domains is not offered outside the USA.

Google Domains is not universally available - or desirable.

For blog owners outside the USA - or blog owners who do not wish to register domains using Google Domains - any email service must be provided by the DNS hosting service / registrar.

Many new domain owners, who ask about email setup options, are not Google Domains customers - and are therefore at the mercy of the DNS hosting service, or registrar.

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