> Having a firstnamelastname address will subject you to a truly baffling level of false accounts and misaddressed email
You're so right.
This is a big reason I'm looking forward to Apple's iCloud+ custom domain names. Outlook.com already supports custom domain names for paying customers in a very limited way, but hopefully Apple's move will light a fire under Gmail product management to offer this, perhaps through Google One.
Google's support for custom domains is strictly for Workspace (formerly GSuite) customers. It's analogous to Microsoft 365 business plans[1].
Other providers are moving beyond this, i.e. offering custom domains to a wider set of (paying) users. Outlook.com already supports this in a limited way (domain must be with GoDaddy, kind of silly), for Microsoft 365 Family and Individual users. And Apple is apparently going to offer it to everyone as part of iCloud+ too.
Not everyone needs the full Workspace offering. In fact Google has Google One for exactly that kind of customer, and a custom domain name would fit neatly into the Google One proposition.
You're so right.
This is a big reason I'm looking forward to Apple's iCloud+ custom domain names. Outlook.com already supports custom domain names for paying customers in a very limited way, but hopefully Apple's move will light a fire under Gmail product management to offer this, perhaps through Google One.