Google and Yahoo take on spam!
In the fight against spam, Google and Yahoo announced new standards for 2024 to help protect their inboxes and limit the spread of junk mail. This is great news for legitimate email senders who follow email best practice, as we expect other mailbox and email providers to follow their lead.
However, you’ll need to adapt to the new standards, or risk your email not reaching the recipient’s inbox.
The key points, if you haven’t got 2 minutes ;)
- Google and Yahoo are introducing new anti-spam standards in 2024.
- Businesses must adopt SPF, DKIM and DMARC:
- Google requires businesses sending more than 5,000 messages to Gmail to do this by February 2024.
- Yahoo applies the same requirements to “bulk senders” in the first quarter of 2024.
- The new requirements include:
- SPF and DKIM records for domain authentication.
- A DMARC record for the domain.
- Alignment of the “From” header with the SPF or DMARC record.
- Keeping the spam rate below 0.3%.
- Easy one-click unsubscribe.
- Why it matters for businesses:
- It strengthens a business’s email best practice.
- Less competition from badly configured emails or spam.
- Protection against email spoofing and better authentication.
- The ability to spot SPF and DKIM issues and spammers abusing your domain.
- Businesses that haven’t yet configured SPF, DKIM and DMARC urgently need to prepare.
- Special attention for newsletter senders:
- Aligning sending processes with the new standards.
- A focus on transparency and consent in digital marketing.
- Keeping newsletter subscribers’ trust and engagement.
Google and Yahoo will require SPF, DKIM and DMARC
For Google, if your business sends more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses, you must adopt SPF, DKIM and DMARC by February 2024. Yahoo will apply the same three requirements to “bulk senders” in the first quarter of 2024, although it hasn’t defined what a bulk sender is.
The new email requirements include both SPF and DKIM records to authenticate sending domains, a DMARC record for the domain, and a “From” header that matches either the SPF or DMARC record, known as “alignment”. Marketers must also keep their spam rate below 0.3% and offer one-click unsubscribe if the recipient chooses.
What does this mean for your business?
Google’s and Yahoo’s requirements are a key step towards strengthening your business’s email best practice. With the two biggest email providers taking significant steps to protect inboxes, more mailbox providers will adopt similar DMARC policies in future. Preparation will be key.
If your business has already enabled SPF, DKIM and DMARC, you have an advantage. Your messages will compete with fewer badly configured emails and less spam. Your email is protected from spoofing through better authentication, and with DMARC you can see SPF and DKIM configuration issues that could hurt your email delivery, and spot spammers trying to use your domain for fraud or phishing. If you haven’t configured SPF, DKIM and DMARC, you have a short window to prepare. Whatever your SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup, the requirement to keep a low spam complaint rate could seriously hurt your business if you buy email lists.
Newsletter senders also need to pay special attention to these changes. As an email sender, you’ll need to make sure your processes meet the new standards so your newsletters keep reaching their recipients and don’t end up in the spam folder. That means regularly reviewing and updating your sending practices, meeting the authentication requirements and making sure your content is relevant and wanted by your subscribers. This shift highlights the importance of transparency and consent in digital marketing, which is essential for keeping your newsletter subscribers’ trust and engagement.