Back in October, Google and Yahoo laid out plans to enforce tighter industry practices, which come into force this February.
The updated requirements target bulk senders – anyone operating an email mailing list that sends over 5,000 emails to Gmail addresses a day – to make it harder for spammers and fraudsters to break through.
However, the news has left many digital marketers wondering whether the new rules will prevent them from reaching their subscribers’ inboxes.
So, what do the changes actually mean for your business?
Well, if you’re hitting the 5,000-in-a-day threshold, you’ll have to grapple with the new authentication and procedural requirements – if you haven’t already incorporated them into your set-up.
In terms of authentication, that means your emails will have to pass DKIM (DomainKey Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) protocols; you’ll need to configure a Fully Qualified reverse DNS” (FQrDNS), which is also known as a Forward Confirmed reverse DNS” (FCrDNS); and your FROM sending domain will require a DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) record.
Basically, you’ll have to prove you’re exactly who you say you are.
Other than this, bulk senders will be expected to ensure it's easy for their audience to unsubscribe at the click of a button (literally) and that anyone who has requested to leave a mailing list is removed within two days.
The last main change centres around an industry-first complaints threshold. While Google already blocks 15 billion spam emails per day, many still get through. To prevent even more unwanted emails, senders that hit a complaints threshold of .3% will likely be blocked. However, you will see issues with deliverability and reputation long before that.
Lastly, it’s important to note that these changes won’t be the last. Unscrupulous senders will keep trying to break through, using whatever loopholes they can find. For this reason, we can expect the whole industry to keep closing the gaps to protect their end-users from harm – a motivation we can all support.
If you’re still unsure whether your business meets all the new requirements, you can read more about the updates and how to implement them here: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126
