New Email Requirements from Gmail and Yahoo

Emailing policy change 2024

Starting February 1st, 2024, Gmail and Yahoo's emailing policy is changing. What used to be a general recommendation is now a requirement. The new policy requires all email sent to be from a verified domain, be signed with DKIM, SPF and DMARC (mainly for bulk senders above 5k email per day), maintain low spam rate of less than 0,3% and have an easy way to unsubscribe by just using one click Unsubscribe button.

- What is DKIM?

DKIM, which stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail, is a security standard used in email authentication. It is designed to allow email senders to digitally sign their emails to prove their authenticity. The primary purpose of DKIM is to combat email fraud and phishing. By digitally signing emails, DKIM helps verify that the message was actually sent by the claimed sender and that it hasn't been tampered with during transit. 

- What is SPF?

It is an email authentication protocol that helps prevent email spoofing and phishing by allowing domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. SPF works by adding a DNS record to the domain's DNS settings, indicating a list of authorized mail servers.

When an email is sent, the recipient's mail server can check the SPF record of the sender's domain. If the sending mail server is listed as an authorized server in the SPF record, the email is considered legitimate. If the sending server is not listed or is not authorized, the recipient's server may treat the email as suspicious or reject it outright.

- What is a DMARC

DMARC, is an email authentication protocol that builds upon SPF and DKIM. DMARC allows domain owners to specify how email messages claiming to be from their domain should be handled if they fail SPF or DKIM checks. The primary goals of DMARC are to combat email phishing and increase email authentication and delivery reliability.

- Spam rate of less 0.3%

Spam rate refers to refers to the percentage of spam messages in the total volume of emails sent. It represents the proportion of unwanted or unsolicited emails in comparison to legitimate emails.

For example, if you send 1000 emails, spam rate of less than 0.3% means that you need to have less than 3 spam reports out of the 1000 emails sent in order to be compliant.

- Easy One-click Unsubscribe

Implementing a straightforward unsubscribe option for your recipients can substantially decrease your spam rate. This feature signals to users that you respect their preferences and are not compelling them to receive emails against their will. Providing an easy way to exit your mailing list ensures that users won't resort to marking your emails as spam simply to halt further marketing messages. This proactive approach not only enhances user experience but also contributes to maintaining a positive sender reputation and reducing the likelihood of your emails being flagged as spam.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU AND WHAT TO DO NEXT?

The good news is that most items are already being required from our end to make you compliant with using our Email Marketing and Automation service.

- DKIM and SPF records are already applied from Verifying your domain (DKIM via CNAME record) and by the fact that we use Amazon's emailing servers, that are already applying SPF, hence no need to do anything on that aspect.

- SPAM Rates - We have also actively been applying the less than 0.3% spam rate policy for years. Going over this metric would put you in a review state and therefore stop your current sending to mitigate further spam reports that would damage your sender reputation.

- Unsubscribe link - We do add such link by default in every email that you start constructing, hence, we would only advise that you make it slightly more visible (by ensuring the font color is distinct from the background color for instance), so it is even easier now for the recipient to find it if they wish to unsubscribe. 

- DMARC Record - Although this would mostly apply for regular bulk email senders, over 5k per day, we recommend that everyone adds such record to make sure you are compliant in any case.

NOTE: ShinePages does not provide nor generate DMARC records. You need to reach out to your Email Domain Host (where you purchased your business email address) and find out their instructions on how to create this record and add the values to your domain's DNS Records page. You can also check in Google for general information on how DMARC records are created.

*If your Email Domain Host does not provide a DMARC record - it is still possible to generate it using different online generators. You will be able to indicate the settings for the DMARC according to your needs and preferences. For example, you can use this tool: https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-record-wizard/

OR you can use the standard DMARC record below:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:your@email.com   

(replace "your@email.com" with the email where you want to receive reports about messages)

Once your DMARC record/values are generated - you will "ADD" a new TXT Record to your DNS Records page within your Domain Host (where you purchased your domain name) as such: 

Record Type: TXT

Host/NAME: _dmarc.

Value:  insert your generated DMARC value here or use the standard DMARC record above - ie: v=DMARC1: p=none; mailto:your@email.com 

NOTE:  

ShinePages provides the following values/records that you can copy and then paste into the "DNS Records" area of your Domain Registrar (ie: the place where you purchased your domain name)

*TO CONNECT YOUR DOMAIN TO YOUR WEBSITE or FUNNEL: 

ShinePages provides information/values for the following two types of DNS records - which you will copy and paste into your DNS Records area as:  

-A Record (Name/Host of: @, Value/Data of: 34.202.63.170)

-CNAME Record (Name/Host of: www, Value/Data of: "yourdomain.com")

See Details: CONNECT YOUR DOMAIN

*TO GET YOUR DOMAIN VERIFIED FOR EMAIL SENDING: 

REQUIRED:  SPF + DKIM requirements 

ShinePages provides information/values for the following two types of DNS records - which you will copy and paste into your DNS Records page as: 

-TXT Record (Name/Host of: @, Value/Data of: provided string of numbers)

-CNAME Record (Name/Host of def._domainkey, Value/Data of: client._domainkey.app-sources.com)

See Details:  GET EMAIL VERIFIED FOR EMAIL SENDING

RECOMMENDED:  DMARC Record: 

ShinePages does NOT provide information/values for this DNS record.  Please see article above - you can get this record information from your Email Domain Host or use a standard or generated DMARC record.  The provided or generated values for this record will be added to your DNS page as a:

-TXT Record