Both Gmail and Yahoo are implementing changes which will impact email delivery for bulk senders, starting February 2024, in an effort to improve security and reduce spam. These changes are specifically targeted at senders, who deliver more than 5,000 messages per day to Gmail or Yahoo addresses.
Authentication
Bulk senders, those sending more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in one day, will be required to authenticate their emails strongly. This ensures that the sender’s identity is verified, closing loopholes exploited by attackers.
While DKIM, SPF and DMARC guidelines have been around for ages, it seems like these new changes in authentication requirements are focused on stronger checks and proper sender domain alignment, making it more difficult to send message from an address/domain that you do not own or control.
How does this affect me? What Most Mailbob customers don’t need to do anything as we already handle all authentication on our infrastructure. However, if you do use a custom sending domain with Mailbob, we may reach out to you for an additional DNS record to add to your domain.
Easy Unsubscription
The List-Unsubscribe-Post header in SMTP is highly recommended and supported by the vast majority of email services. Starting February 2024, this header will be a requirement for bulk senders to Gmail and Yahoo, allowing their users to unsubscribe from marketing emails, newsletters and mailing list in one click, without leaving their email client, or having to double (or sometimes triple) confirm their intent to unsubscribe.
What do I have to do? Nothing. For all outgoing non-transactional mail on Mailbob we already implement List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers, which allow customers to easily unsubscribe from your newsletter from their inbox.
Spam Rate Thresholds
Yahoo and Google are introducing spam rate thresholds, which bulk senders will have to stay under, to make sure their messages are being delivered. While Google describes this as an “industry-first,” such thresholds have already been in place for many years on large delivery platforms such as Amazon SES, which monitors both the bounce and complaint (spam) rates for every account.
Anything I need to do? No. Outgoing messages on Mailbob are delivered through Amazon SES, so we have already been subject to these thresholds at the account (which includes all senders) level. In addition to that, we have an internal sender reputation system to make sure we’re not pushing unwanted mail through our delivery channels. This system may flag newsletter issues for review prior to being delivered, especially for brand new accounts.
These changes are part of Gmail’s ongoing efforts to improve email security, reduce clutter in inboxes, and protect users from malicious messages. The requirements are considered basic email hygiene, and clear guidance will be provided for senders to implement these changes before the enforcement begins in February 2024. The collaboration with industry partners, such as Yahoo, underscores the collective effort to establish these practices as a new industry standard.
If you have any questions about these changes, don’t hesitate to start a live chat in your Mailbob dashboard!
