Gmail and Yahoo! are about to roll out new email deliverability rules . They were announced here (for Google) and here (for Yahoo!).
The goal of these two messaging giants is the same: to improve the user experience by reducing the volume of unwanted emails received in the mailbox and by guaranteeing a high level of security.
Here are the new rules that will come into effect from February 2024:
The spam rate should not exceed 0.3%. Beyond this, senders will be considered unreliable and their submissions may be blocked.
Senders will need to provide a simple unsubscribe mechanism to allow list of australia whatsapp phone numbers recipients to easily unsubscribe from mailing lists.
Authentication processes will need to be put in place if this is not done to validate the sender's identity. Standard protocols will need to be respected: SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication).
The sender must have a valid reverse DNS record. In other words, the IP address used for sending must be linked to the sender's domain.
The format of communications (email body, titles, attachments, etc.) must comply with the rules set out in the RFC 5322 standard.
It will no longer be possible to use a @ gmail.com or @ yahoo.fr sender address for mass mailings.
Let's end the suspense: these changes are not revolutionary . If you already apply best practices in terms of email deliverability, if you use a trusted platform (like Actito) to manage your sending, you are in fact respecting most of these rules. Moreover, at Actito, we offer a solid infrastructure and support from a team of deliverability experts (from setup to daily management).
Who is concerned?
These new rules apply to anyone who targets Gmail and Yahoo! email addresses. In short: everyone .
The following addresses are included in the scope: gmail.com , googlemail.com , yahoo.com , yahoo.fr , ymail.com , aol.com , aol.fr. However, Google has specified that these new rules will not apply to emails sent to professional recipients from the Google Workspace platform.
Important: Some policies only apply to bulk senders, which Google defines as senders sending more than 5,000 emails per day. Since this article is written for marketers, chances are you fall into this category. The two policies that apply only to bulk senders are those regarding facilitating unsubscribes and adhering to DMARK, DKIM, and SPF.
How to prepare for these changes?
Let's go into a little more detail about the main developments. This will be an opportunity to share some practical advice with you.
Email Authentication
Email authentication is a security process that helps authenticate that the sender of emails is legitimate.
To comply, you must at least enable the SPF or DKIM protocols.
The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) protocol is used to define which IP addresses are allowed to send emails for a given domain name.
The DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) protocol is used to add a cryptographic signature to emails.
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Messages that do not use either of these two protocols will be automatically rejected by Google. These protocols are also required by Yahoo!, although the firm does not clearly specify the impact for companies that do not use any protocol.
We strongly recommend that you install both protocols if you haven't already.
We also recommend using the DMARC (Domain based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) protocol, which allows you to define a policy for rejecting or quarantining messages that do not comply with the SPF or DKIM protocols. The absence of DMARC will not be penalized by Gmail or Yahoo! in the immediate future, but that is the way history is going. Deliverability rules are set to become stricter in the years to come.
Easy unsubscribe for your recipients
Starting in June 2024, senders will have to allow Google and Yahoo! to offer recipients their One-Click List-Unsubscribe features. The goal is to make the unsubscribe process easier for users.
Below is a screenshot showing the one-click unsubscribe feature in action in the Gmail inbox.
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Furthermore, Google and Yahoo! invite senders to clearly display their own unsubscribe link in the email. Understand: by placing it in the header or in the body of the email rather than in the footer hidden in small characters…
Another announcement is that the processing time for unsubscription requests has been reduced to two days.
Facilitating the unsubscribe process is a good practice already implemented by most serious brands. It helps maintain the quality of contact lists over time . If you are not yet following this good practice, you know what you have to do.
Please note that this new rule only concerns marketing emails - excluding transactional emails.
Maintaining a low spam rate
The spam rate (or complaint rate) refers to the percentage of delivered emails that are declared as junk mail (spam) by recipients. Google and Yahoo! have set a spam rate that should not be exceeded: 0.3%. Beyond this, your emails may be blocked.
We advise our clients to target a spam rate of 0.2% or less.
How to reduce spam rate?
By implementing a relevant email collection strategy.
By improving the targeting and relevance of your communications.
By removing inactive contacts from your database.
In short, by applying good marketing practices. Once again…
Good to know, to know your complaint rate, you can use:
Google Postmaster Tools .
Yahoo!' s Complaint Feedback Loop .
How can the Actito team help you?
These new rules will not bring about major changes for Actito customers . These requirements are the black and white implementation of good practices that we have integrated By Design into our platform or that we are implementing with and for our customers.
We configure the identification protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for all our customers. So there is no risk to fear on this side. The same goes for reverse DNS registration and unsubscription management.
Where our customers need to be particularly vigilant, however, is in keeping the spam rate below 0.3%. We have reminded that optimizing this rate depends on our customers' marketing practices, not on technical actions.
To facilitate the monitoring of the complaint rate, we activate Google Postmaster Tools for all our customers. We can share its access upon simple request to our support by indicating the address (Google compatible) which will have access to this information.
What you need to remember
The deliverability rate is one of the main KPIs for measuring the performance of an email campaign. Compliance with the new deliverability requirements of Google and Yahoo! is therefore not an option. It is the reach of your communications that is at stake and, in the medium term, your reputation as a sender. The subject must therefore be taken very seriously.
One of two things:
Either you use a trusted platform like Actito and in this case the new requirements will not require many adaptations.
Either this is not the case (if for example you manage your campaigns locally), in which case you will have to roll up your sleeves to face the imminent arrival of these new deliverability rules
