You may have seen posts on social media, or even received emails from your Email Service Provider (ESP) about upcoming changes that will affect your ability to email your Google and Yahoo subscribers. We have already received a few tickets asking for help and we know this can feel a little confusing, so we wanted to give you a little more information on what is happening and what it can mean for your business.

But before we dive in, there are all sorts of acronyms we’re about to share with you. It’s definitely worth a read so you have a fundamental understanding of what’s happening – but please don’t panic. We are here to help you if you need it!

What is happening?

To help combat spam and improve inbox safety, new rules are coming in to place from February 2024 that will focus on controlling spam by improving sender email authentication and the unsubscribe process.

Most of the ‘new rules’ are already considered good practice when it comes to email marketing, so it may mean you have no changes to make if you’re already following them. If not, then just a few simple changes can ensure those subscribers on your list with a Gmail or Yahoo email address will continue to receive your emails.

The 3 key rules are:

• Authenticate your sending domain
• Allow for one click unsubscribes
• Stay below the spam rate threshold

There is a further rule for those who send to more than 5,000 emails on any given day – you require a DMARC authentication record put in place.

What does this mean?

1. Authenticate your sending domain

It has always been best practice to use a domain based email (yourname@yourdomain.com) for email marketing in order to avoid having emails rejected by the free email systems (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail). While previously you could get away with sending from a personal email address, Google and Yahoo are clamping down on this, and unless you can authenticate your domain with your email marketing provider you will no longer be able to send emails to subscribers with a Gmail or Yahoo email address.

Many ESPs ask you to authenticate your email address during their onboarding process – so you most likely have already satisfied this rule. However, if you have not then it will require an update to your DNS settings, with a SPF record and a DKIM record. These will be provided to you by your ESP.

2. Allow for one click unsubscribes

Have you ever had to email someone to request to be unsubscribed?

Annoying isn’t it when all you want to do is to stop getting the emails you are being sent.

The new rules will require subscribers to be able to only click once to unsubscribe. Again, most ESPs already have this in place, with the simple ‘Unsubscribe’ link found in the footer of your emails. So, as long as you have this in place, you should be good to go.

3. Stay below the spam rate threshold

If you are sending bulk emails you will know the lower your spam rate the better your delivery – and this new policy from Google/Yahoo is making that even more important. The new rate for Google must be below 0.3% as measured by Google’s Postmaster Tools (you can register for a free account to monitor this). Yahoo has yet to announce their rate.

To stay below the threshold, you need to be focused on delivering high quality content in your emails, ensure your subject lines aren’t spammy and ensure you are only sending people what they have signed up for.

The more subscriber initiated unsubscribes and spam reports you receive the higher your spam rate.

4. Authenticate your sending domain

DMARC is a Domain Based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance security protocol, that is now required by those who send more than 5,000 emails a day. It ensures the emails are genuinely coming from your domain by double checking security protocols. Not only does it ensure your emails are genuine, but it also protects your brand from phishing and spoofing attacks.

You will need to generate a DMARC policy and add this to your DNS settings then use a DMARC checker to ensure it is working.