Starting in February 2024, Gmail will require users to update their email guidelines in order to authenticate outgoing email, avoid sending unwanted or unsolicited email, and to make it easier for email recipients to unsubscribe, if needed.
These requirements are for email senders that transmit more than 5,000 Gmail and/or Yahoo email addresses or for anyone that uses a Gmail email address in their From email fields.
Click HERE to learn more about the new email sender guidelines that will be put in place. Please feel free to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or your Implementation Manager for any questions you may have.
Requirements
Sender Domain Authentication
Note
You will need to have the right authentication for the email domain you are sending from. You will also need to have SPF, DKIM, and DMARC set up correctly.
- Set up SPF and DKIM email authentication for your sending domain.
- Setting up a new domain to be used in Total Expert automatically established a users SPF and DKIM.
- Set up a DMARC policy for your sending domain.
- Create a DMARC Policy with tools like Dmarcian or MX ToolBox.
- Note: The DMARC record is something that you need to add to all your sending domains. You can either add the default DMARC TXT record below to their DNS, or they can create a custom DMARC record using other tools. The record does not need to be at enforcement (p=reject or p=quarantine) and can be set (p=none).
type: "TXT" name: "_dmarc" value: "v=DMARC1; p=none;"
What is a DMARC?
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is the latest and greatest advance in email authentication. Many ISP’s use this to authenticate email senders and other B2B companies have to started to adopt this policy. DMARC ensures that legitimate emails are properly authenticating against established DKIM and SPF standards and that fraudulent activity appearing to come from domains under the organization’s control (active sending domains, non-sending domains, and defensively registered domains) is blocked.
Sender Complaint Rate
- Keep spam rates reported in Google Postmaster Tools below .3%
- Note: Google and Yahoo! are beginning to enforce a spam rate threshold that senders must stay under to ensure Gmail and Yahoo recipients are not being sent spam.
Do Not Impersonate Gmail by Using @gmail.com as a Sending Domain
Note
Gmail is wanting to use DMARC to protect their domain from unauthorized usages. Gmail does not allow for users to set up authentication for their individual address. This is due to how the DMARC applies to the entire @gmail.com domain.
Gmail tells the recipient inboxes that Gmail did not send the email and will reject it when you send emails from any email service other than Gmail when using @gmail.com domain.
- Set up a custom domain.
- It is recommended that customers register a domain and create that domain with the required SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
Requirement FAQ
ARC Headers
What Are ARC Headers?
ARC verifies previous authentication checks for forwarded messages and helps ensure forwarded messages are delivered to the final recipients.
How Do I Know If My Mail is Being Forwarded?
Your mail is being forwarded if you send to mailing list services that forward messages onto final destination inboxes or inbound gateways. It is important not to confuse list-serv forwarding with an individual recipient forwarding an email from their inbox. List forwarding or List Serving is a specific routing challenge addressed by ARC.
Do I Have to Do Anything?
This requirement will impact a very small fraction of senders, as ARC is handled on the recipient server side when a message is forwarded. Read through Google’s blog post on ARC HERE if you regularly forward mail.
One-Click Unsubscribe
What Are One-Click Unsubscribes?
One-click unsubscribe (list unsubscribe) provides a second method for subscribers to easily remove themselves from your mailing list. The List-Unsubscribe header will insert an unsubscribe button or link next to the From address at the top of your email.
Do I Have to Do Anything?
Nothing needs to be done since Total Expert has added the List-Unsubscribe-Post header to all emails that get sent out.
Reverse DNS for Sending IPs
What Are Reverse DNS for Sending IPs?
Reverse DNS allows mailbox providers to verify the sender when they do a reverse DNS lookup upon receipt of the emails you send. When you update your DNS provider with a DNS record provided by SendGrid, and then send mail over your IP, the recipient's email service provider performs a reverse DNS lookup (rDNS) using an A Record (address record).
An A Record maps your domain to your IP address. When a mailbox provider looks up your A Record, they see your SendGrid IP address. When they look at your IP address, they see the rDNS that matches your A Record. This circular checking proves your SendGrid IP association with your domain and your domain association with your SendGrid IP.
Do I Have to Do Anything?
Nothing needs to be done since Total Expert already has reverse DNS completed for our Sending IPs.
RFC 5322
What is RFC 5322?
RFC 5322 is an Internet standard that defines the correct format for email messages. This covers the message headers, body, and attachments.
Do I Have to Do Anything?
Nothing needs to be done since Total Expert already follows this requirement.
Transport Layer Security (TLS)
What is Transport Layer Security (TLS)?
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a standard security protocol for communication over the internet that offers encryption and data privacy. Gmail and Yahoo will require any mail transmitted to them to have a secure TLS connection.
Do I Have to Do Anything?
Total Expert handles the connection to the inbox providers and issues a TLS connection, so you don’t need to worry about this requirement.