<s>
Webmail	B-Protocol
(	O
or	O
web-based	B-Protocol
email	I-Protocol
)	O
is	O
an	O
email	O
service	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
using	O
a	O
standard	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
contrasts	O
with	O
email	O
service	O
accessible	O
through	O
a	O
specialised	O
email	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
webmail	B-Protocol
providers	O
are	O
1&1	O
Ionos	O
,	O
AOL	B-Application
Mail	I-Application
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
,	O
GMX	B-General_Concept
Mail	I-General_Concept
,	O
Mailfence	B-Application
,	O
Outlook.com/Hotmail.com	B-Application
,	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Mail	O
and	O
IceWarp	B-Protocol
Mail	I-Protocol
Server	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
many	O
internet	O
service	O
providers	O
(	O
ISP	O
)	O
provide	O
webmail	B-Protocol
as	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
internet	O
service	O
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
some	O
web	O
hosting	O
providers	O
also	O
provide	O
webmail	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
hosting	O
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ISP	O
providers	O
and	O
hosting	O
companies	O
,	O
typically	O
use	O
webmail	B-Protocol
software	O
via	O
3rd	O
party	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
Roundcube	B-Language
or	O
SquirrelMail	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
any	O
web	O
application	O
,	O
webmail	B-Protocol
's	O
main	O
advantage	O
over	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
desktop	B-Device
email	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
is	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
send	O
and	O
receive	O
email	O
anywhere	O
from	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
Web	B-Protocol
Mail	I-Protocol
implementation	O
was	O
developed	O
at	O
CERN	O
in	O
1993	O
by	O
Phillip	O
Hallam-Baker	O
as	O
a	O
test	O
of	O
the	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
stack	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
not	O
developed	O
further	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
next	O
two	O
years	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
several	O
people	O
produced	O
working	O
webmail	B-Protocol
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Europe	O
,	O
there	O
were	O
three	O
implementations	O
,	O
Søren	O
Vejrum	O
's	O
"	O
WWW	O
Mail	O
"	O
,	O
Luca	O
Manunza	O
's	O
"	O
WebMail	B-Protocol
"	O
,	O
and	O
Remy	O
Wetzels	O
 '	O
"	O
WebMail	B-Protocol
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Luca	O
Manunza	O
's	O
"	O
WebMail	B-Protocol
"	O
was	O
written	O
while	O
he	O
was	O
working	O
at	O
CRS4	O
in	O
Sardinia	O
,	O
from	O
an	O
idea	O
of	O
Gianluigi	O
Zanetti	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
first	O
source	O
release	O
on	O
March	O
30	O
,	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Remy	O
Wetzels	O
 '	O
"	O
WebMail	B-Protocol
"	O
was	O
written	O
while	O
he	O
was	O
studying	O
at	O
the	O
Eindhoven	O
University	O
of	O
Technology	O
in	O
the	O
Netherlands	O
for	O
the	O
DSE	O
and	O
was	O
released	O
early	O
January	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
Matt	O
Mankins	O
wrote	O
"	O
Webex	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
Bill	O
Fitler	O
,	O
while	O
at	O
Lotus	B-Application
cc:Mail	I-Application
,	O
began	O
working	O
on	O
an	O
implementation	O
which	O
he	O
demonstrated	O
publicly	O
at	O
Lotusphere	O
on	O
January	O
24	O
,	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bill	O
Fitler	O
's	O
webmail	B-Protocol
implementation	O
was	O
further	O
developed	O
as	O
a	O
commercial	O
product	O
,	O
which	O
Lotus	O
announced	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
the	O
fall	O
of	O
1995	O
as	O
cc:Mail	B-Application
for	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
1.0	O
;	O
thereby	O
providing	O
an	O
alternative	O
means	O
of	O
accessing	O
a	O
cc:Mail	B-Application
message	O
store	O
(	O
the	O
usual	O
means	O
being	O
a	O
cc:Mail	B-Application
desktop	B-Device
application	O
that	O
operated	O
either	O
via	O
dialup	O
or	O
within	O
the	O
confines	O
of	O
a	O
local	O
area	O
network	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
commercialization	O
of	O
webmail	B-Protocol
was	O
also	O
achieved	O
when	O
"	O
Webex	O
"	O
began	O
to	O
be	O
sold	O
by	O
Mankins	O
 '	O
company	O
,	O
DotShop	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hotmail	B-Operating_System
and	O
Four11	B-Application
's	I-Application
RocketMail	I-Application
both	O
launched	O
in	O
1996	O
as	O
free	O
services	O
and	O
immediately	O
became	O
very	O
popular	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
1990s	O
progressed	O
,	O
and	O
into	O
the	O
2000s	O
,	O
it	O
became	O
more	O
common	O
for	O
the	O
general	O
public	O
to	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
webmail	B-Protocol
because	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
many	O
Internet	O
service	O
providers	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
EarthLink	O
)	O
and	O
web	O
hosting	O
providers	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Verio	O
)	O
began	O
bundling	O
webmail	B-Protocol
into	O
their	O
service	O
offerings	O
(	O
often	O
in	O
parallel	O
with	O
POP/SMTP	O
services	O
)	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
many	O
other	O
enterprises	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
universities	O
and	O
large	O
corporations	O
)	O
also	O
started	O
offering	O
webmail	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
way	O
for	O
their	O
user	O
communities	O
to	O
access	O
their	O
email	O
(	O
either	O
locally	O
managed	O
or	O
outsourced	O
)	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
webmail	B-Protocol
service	O
providers	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Hotmail	B-Operating_System
and	O
RocketMail	B-Application
)	O
emerged	O
in	O
1996	O
as	O
a	O
free	O
service	O
to	O
the	O
general	O
public	O
,	O
and	O
rapidly	O
gained	O
in	O
popularity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
webmail	B-Protocol
application	O
software	O
is	O
developed	O
in-house	O
by	O
the	O
organizations	O
running	O
and	O
managing	O
the	O
application	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
some	O
cases	O
it	O
is	O
obtained	O
from	O
software	O
companies	O
that	O
develop	O
and	O
sell	O
such	O
applications	O
,	O
usually	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
an	O
integrated	O
mail	O
server	O
package	O
(	O
an	O
early	O
example	O
being	O
Netscape	B-Application
Messaging	I-Application
Server	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
market	O
for	O
webmail	B-Protocol
application	O
software	O
has	O
continued	B-Application
into	I-Application
the	I-Application
2010s	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Email	O
users	O
may	O
find	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
both	O
a	O
webmail	B-Protocol
client	O
and	O
a	O
desktop	B-Device
client	O
using	O
the	O
POP3	B-Protocol
protocol	O
presents	O
some	O
difficulties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
email	O
messages	O
that	O
are	O
downloaded	O
by	O
the	O
desktop	B-Device
client	O
and	O
are	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
server	O
will	O
no	O
longer	O
be	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
webmail	B-Protocol
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
is	O
limited	O
to	O
previewing	O
messages	O
using	O
the	O
web	B-Application
client	I-Application
before	O
they	O
are	O
downloaded	O
by	O
the	O
desktop	B-Device
email	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
both	O
a	O
webmail	B-Protocol
client	O
and	O
a	O
desktop	B-Device
client	O
using	O
the	O
IMAP4	B-Protocol
protocol	O
allows	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
mailbox	O
to	O
be	O
consistently	O
displayed	O
in	O
both	O
the	O
webmail	B-Protocol
and	O
desktop	B-Device
clients	O
and	O
any	O
action	O
the	O
user	O
performs	O
on	O
messages	O
in	O
one	O
interface	O
will	O
be	O
reflected	O
when	O
the	O
email	O
is	O
accessed	O
via	O
the	O
other	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
significant	O
differences	O
in	O
rendering	O
capabilities	O
for	O
many	O
popular	O
webmail	B-Protocol
services	O
such	O
as	O
Gmail	B-Application
,	O
Outlook.com	B-Operating_System
and	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
varying	O
treatment	O
of	O
HTML	B-Language
tags	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
<style> and <head>	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
CSS	B-Language
rendering	O
inconsistencies	O
,	O
email	O
marketing	O
companies	O
rely	O
on	O
older	O
web	O
development	O
techniques	O
to	O
send	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
mail	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
applications	O
by	O
default	O
create	O
email	O
messages	O
via	O
MAPI	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
vendors	O
produce	O
tools	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
MAPI	B-Protocol
interface	O
to	O
webmail	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
emails	O
stored	O
unencrypted	O
on	O
any	O
service	O
provider	O
's	O
servers	O
can	O
be	O
read	O
by	O
that	O
service	O
provider	O
,	O
specific	O
concerns	O
have	O
been	O
raised	O
regarding	O
webmail	B-Protocol
services	O
that	O
automatically	O
analyze	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
users	O
 '	O
emails	O
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
targeted	O
advertising	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
least	O
two	O
such	O
services	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
and	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Webmail	B-Protocol
that	O
is	O
accessed	O
over	O
unsecured	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
may	O
be	O
readable	O
by	O
a	O
third	O
party	O
who	O
has	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
transmission	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
over	O
an	O
unsecured	O
Wi-Fi	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
may	O
be	O
avoided	O
by	O
connecting	O
to	O
the	O
webmail	B-Protocol
service	O
via	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
encrypts	O
the	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Application
has	O
supported	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
since	O
launch	O
and	O
in	O
2014	O
began	O
requiring	O
it	O
for	O
all	O
webmail	B-Protocol
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mail	O
added	O
the	O
option	O
to	O
connect	O
over	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
in	O
2013	O
and	O
made	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
required	O
in	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
