Self-hosted email is in steep decline, Microsoft and Google are taking over
Oh great, Big Tech is now in prime position to decide which messages get through
Self-hosted email servers are becoming increasingly rare, with their usage declining rapidly over the past decade, according to a researcher from Live Direct Marketing. By examining DNS records, the researcher found that the percentage of top million domains hosting their own mail servers has plummeted from 44.6% in 2016 to just 22.4% in 2026.
This self-hosting trend is being eclipsed by the dominance of major tech giants, such as Google and Microsoft, which account for 38.6% of email server detections. The reliance on just two providers for email delivery raises concerns, as any disruption, policy change, or outage from these providers could have widespread consequences.
Moreover, the use of DMARC records, which help filter untrustworthy messages, remains low, despite regulations implemented by Google and Yahoo in 2024. The researcher emphasizes the need to address this systemic dependency on a few email providers and the lack of visibility into the infrastructure behind email delivery.
Written by urgent.news from The Register Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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