Google and Yahoo are implementing new requirements for bulk email senders. They aim to ensure greater security for recipients, reduce the number of spam messages, and provide a better user experience.
As of February 2024, based on its Email sender guidelines, Google will demand new requirements for senders who send 5,000 or more messages a day to Gmail accounts. Similarly, Yahoo has also defined new practices for bulk email deliverability. The requirements stipulated by the companies are:
- Authentication of the sender's email.
- Making it easy to unsubscribe.
- Limiting the rate of emails marked as spam.
If senders do not comply with these guidelines, their emails may be rejected or delivered to the recipient's spam box.
What has changed?
As of February 2024, Google and Yahoo will require bulk email senders to meet the following requirements:
| Requirements | Description |
|---|---|
| Sender email authentication | Senders must authenticate their emails using the following protocols:
By implementing these settings, you protect yourself against spoofing (fake messages sent on behalf of your domain) and prevent your outgoing messages from being marked as spam. Learn more in the Prevent spam, spoofing & phishing with Gmail authentication article. |
| Make it easy to unsubscribe | Recipients must be able to unsubscribe from an email with a single click, and the unsubscribe request must be processed within two days. Learn more about Subscriptions (Google) and Support one click unsubscribe (Yahoo). |
| Spam rate limit | Recipients must consider the emails as desirable, so the rate of emails marked as spam must be less than 0.1%, and the sender must prevent it from reaching 0.3% or more. This rate refers to the number of emails marked as spam by recipients divided by the total number of emails received. You can use Postmaster Tools to track data on large numbers of Gmail emails and Complaint Feedback Loop for Yahoo. |
The aforementioned requirements are considered fundamental in maintaining email deliverability. For more detailed information on email deliverability best practices, see Email sender guidelines for Google-related practices, and for Yahoo, see Email deliverability best practices.
What needs to be done?
To be a bulk email sender compliant with Google and Yahoo's requirements, you must:
- Configure sender email authentication
- Allow recipients to easily unsubscribe
- Control the spam rate limit
If you don't follow these guidelines, your emails may be rejected or delivered to the recipient's spam box. You can check whether you comply with Google's requirements through Postmaster Tools.
Configuring sender email authentication
- Configure SPF authentication for your sending domain.
- Configure DKIM authentication for your sending domain.
- Configure DMARC authentication for your sending domain (you can check if you have a valid DMARC record).
- Define a DMARC policy for your domain (check out Google's recommended rollout).
Allowing recipients to easily unsubscribe
- Give recipients the option to unsubscribe from emails with a single click.
- Include a visible unsubscribe link in the message body.
- Process the unsubscribe request within 2 days.
Controling the spam rate limit
- Ideally, keep reported spam rates below 0.1%.
- Avoid reaching a spam rate of 0.3% or more.
- Monitor spam rates reported in Gmail using Postmaster Tools and in Yahoo using the Complaint Feedback Loop.
Related articles
| VTEX | Yahoo | |
|---|---|---|