Q. Do periods matter in Gmail addresses? I get messages addressed to my account at firstnamelastname@gmail.com but also to firstname.lastname@gmail.com, and none of these seem to be meant for other people.

A. Google’s Gmail service does indeed ignore periods in the address before the @gmail.com. In fact, a Google support page states that “dots don’t matter in Gmail addresses,” and in your example, you could even get a message sent to f.i.r.s.t.n.a.m.e.l.a.s.t.n.a.m.e@gmail.com. (However, the periods in the address do matter if your email account is supplied though an organization like an educational institution or a corporation; talk to your mail system administrator if the dots are an issue.)

Because Google owns the googlemail.com domain and uses it in some countries, you can also get messages addressed to firstnamelastname@googlemail.com.