I’ve been using Gmail since the first day it became available back in April 2004. I have firstname@gmail.com. My name is two syllables, and I specifically remember using another invite to try to register first.name@gmail.com. Google wouldn’t let me because it said the address was already registered.
I’m pretty sure the ignore the dot rule has always been there.
Yep, same here, since the beginning, I have a lot of people trying to email me at firstnamelastname instead of firstname.lastname and it's always badly addressed email, especially as there's someone who uses firstnamelastnameinitial, which is kind of a nightmare.
They've always had the "ignore the dot" semantics and it's sometimes even useful for testing, same as the plus-for-tagging.
On the plus side I did manage to save a name-cousin's immigration application one time when it went to spam on my account, I though that was a pretty interesting experience.
I also don't think google will let you actually register a new account without the dot, so the privacy leakage is much smaller than you might imagine.
I’m pretty sure the ignore the dot rule has always been there.