Updated on: 01.15.2024 • Originally published on: 11.29.2023
Carefully read through this article to ensure you are compliant! Note the February 2024 deadline.
Gmail recently released a new set of requirements for any senders who email greater than 5,000 Gmail accounts per day. Gmail considers this a "bulk sender", even if your average daily sends is below 5K. Once you cross the 5K threshold (even once) you are considered a bulk sender. Yahoo also released similar requirements.
Overview of Changes
Our email team reviewed both policy changes and summarized the key takeaways. Below are changes that you should be familiar with before the requirements take effect in February 2024.
Email Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Enable 1-Click Unsubscribe
Maintain Low Spam Rates (below 0.3%)
Follow Message Format Specifications
See our checklist below for more detailed information for Ascent360 ESP and Acoustic ESP users.
Timeline
In January 2024, Gmail announced that their enforcement of the new requirements will be "gradual and progressive". In February 2024, they'll start issuing temporary errors with error codes for non-compliant sends. This is something we're exploring internally re: how to expose these to our ESP users. Please ensure your marketing is not falling behind due to non-compliance. Follow the checklist below.
Checklist for Ascent360 ESP & Acoustic ESP Users
There wasn't much difference (we checked diligently!) so we combined the checklists for our ESP and Acoustic into one.
✅ Email Authentication
- Set up SPF and DKIM – This is set up automatically when we provision your email account (for both Ascent360 ESP and Acoustic). No action needed.
- Set up DMARC
- You may already have this in place, but we highly suggest you check. To check, use a tool like MXToolbox to check your sending domain ‘DMARC record’. Action Required
- If the record is not there, contact your IT team to implement a DMARC record on your sending domain. Keep in mind that DMARC records are placed on the base domain and not the subdomain. Example: DMARC should be put on “client.com” and not “email.client.com”
- Here is how you can self-check your DMARC records!
- Your IT team should know how to create the DMARC record, but we can also set up a basic record and send it over.
- Note for your IT department: the policy on the DMARC record can be set to “None”.
✅ Enable Easy Unsubscribe
- Our platform will automatically place a one-click ‘list unsubscribe’ at the top of all emails delivered to Gmail addresses. No action needed.
- Your Footer: Make sure the unsubscribe link in your footer is clearly visible and easy to find for customers. If they cannot easily unsubscribe, they are more likely to mark the email as spam which is more damaging to your sender reputation. Action Required
✅ Maintain Low Spam Rates
- Monitor Gmail Spam Rates
- Starting Feb. 2024, Google will require your spam rate to remain at or below 0.3%.
- Clients can sign up for a free Google postmaster account and keep an eye on spam rates specifically in Gmail. When setting up an account from the link above, Google will provide an additional TXT record to be placed on your domain to allow the monitoring. This record will be generated at the account setup from Google. Action Required
- If your spam rate starts to climb, review your sending practices. Questions to ask include how often are you sending email? Is the content relevant to the recipients? This might prompt you to segment further or reconsider your messaging cadence.
✅ Follow Message Format Specifications
- The specified format is the ‘Internet Message Format’ standard (RFC 5322). All emails built and designed in Ascent360 ESP and in Acoustic ESP meet this message formatting standard. No action needed.
Summary
If you have any questions about these new requirements, please contact us by submitting a ticket or by emailing support@ascent360.com. Please use “New Sending Requirements for Gmail & Yahoo” as your subject line so we can route your questions to the correct team.
