As of this month, bulk email senders – which are those sending more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail or Yahoo addresses – are now subject to new requirements to help improve the safety and service of users’ inboxes. Additionally, this affects anyone using a Gmail address as their ‘From’ when sending to any provider, irrespective of the quantity or user domain.

The key changes to note are:

Senders will need to have the right authentication for the email domain they’re sending from

According to Google, many bulk senders don’t correctly configure their systems – which can enable spam, phishing and malware to be more easily hidden. Gmail now requires bulk senders to authenticate their email by following well-established best practice.

This includes using or setting-up a custom domain through an accredited registrar and then setting-up Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) authentication.

Senders must include a one-click unsubscribe link in their email

Good email marketing practice dictates users should be able to easily unsubscribe from emails with one click. But while this hasn’t always been followed, Yahoo and Google are now enforcing a one-click unsubscribe rule as standard.

Senders’ spam rates will need to fall below a certain threshold

To continue to provide its users with the best possible email experience, Google and Yahoo are also taking measures to further reduce the amount of unsolicited or spammy emails by enforcing thresholds.

Email continues to be a powerful and effective marketing tool when used correctly and we at Space & Time fully endorse these changes both from a user and marketing perspective.

If you would like any more advice or guidance regarding these changes or to discuss your email marketing provision in general – drop us an email to [email protected]