Yuka Kato
It’s no secret that Google is committed to making Gmail a safe email platform. To reaffirm this commitment, Google updated its Email Sender Guidelines for 2024.
The announcement of the 2024 Google Sender Guideline update panicked many in the email marketing world. The new guidelines are obviously intended to make inboxes safer and less spammy for Gmail users, so many email marketers feared that their email deliverability would suffer as a result.
If you understand and comply with the new Google Mail rules, your emails will continue to reach your recipients’ inboxes.
This article will explore the new Google Sender Guidelines to help you understand their requirements.
A Breakdown of Google’s New Mass Email Rules for 2024
To make Gmail safe and user-friendly, Google has specific guidelines that email senders must follow to ensure their emails are delivered properly and not marked as spam. Google updates these guidelines occasionally to ensure a more secure and reliable email ecosystem.
In the last quarter of 2023, Google announced changes to its Email Sender Guidelines to take effect in 2024. Wondering how the new guidelines will affect your mass emailing efforts? Keep reading!
Who Does It Impact?
The new Google Sender guidelines will impact email senders who send emails to personal Gmail accounts (any email address that ends in “@gmail.com” or “@googlemail.com”).
The focus is not on the address you are sending your emails from but on the addresses you are sending them to.
Even if you use a different email provider (like Yahoo Mail, Outlook, or AOL Mail) or a bulk email delivery system (like Mailchimp or Brevo), the new Google email requirements will impact you as long as your recipients use personal Gmail accounts.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the new Gmail Sender Guidelines is that they apply only to bulk senders who send 5,000 or more emails per day to Gmail addresses. However, that is not the case.
The new Google email rules have two sets of requirements – one for all email senders who send emails to Gmail accounts and the other for bulk email senders who send more than 5,000 messages per day to Gmail accounts.
Following these guidelines will help ensure that your messages are delivered to Gmail accounts as expected, preventing Gmail from blocking your messages or marking them as spam.
The Reported Spam Rates for Bulk Email Senders
In the new Google Sender guidelines, the requirements for all senders and those for bulk senders have many things in common, with one being that reported spam rates should be kept lower than 0.30%.
Reported spam rate or spam complaint rate is the percentage of messages that recipients report as spam.
Google requires that email senders work to keep their spam complaint rate very low. It specifically says senders should keep reported spam rates below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching a spam rate of 0.30% or higher.
It is often suggested that the reported spam rate is out of the sender’s hands. This suggestion hinges on how relatively easy it is for recipients to report an email as spam. However, that suggestion is false.
While it’s true that reporting an email as spam is relatively easy, the action is motivated by the value (or lack of) that recipients think they get from the email. Recipients are less likely to report your emails as spam if they get value from the messages.
Thus, it is not entirely out of your hands. Ensure your emails offer recipients value, and fewer people will report your email as spam. With fewer people reporting your messages, you’re more likely to meet this requirement of keeping the reported spam rate below 0.30%.
The ‘Unsubscribe’ Requirements for Bulk Senders
One unique requirement for bulk senders sending 5,000 or more messages per day is that such emails should support one-click unsubscribe.
Note the emphasis on “one-click unsubscribe.” This means it is not enough for your subscribed marketing messages to have an unsubscribe mechanism. It is important that unsubscribing is easy. Specifically, recipients should be able to unsubscribe from your emails with just one click.
Your unsubscribe link or button should not take recipients to some page where they have to perform other actions to unsubscribe from your mailing list.
Remember that making it easy for recipients to unsubscribe from your list helps keep your spam complaint rate low. When recipients unsubscribe from receiving emails from you, they won’t be burdened with receiving emails they do not want. This means they won’t be reporting your emails as spam.
The Requirements for Authentication
The new Google Sender Guidelines require SPF and DKIM authentication for sending domains when sending emails to Google accounts. Bulk senders sending mass emails (more than 5,000 messages per day) must also set up DMARC email authentication for their sending domain in addition to SPF and DKIM authentication.
Remember that Gmail uses senders’ reputation to determine whether to deliver an email to recipients’ inboxes or mark it as spam and send it to their spam folders. One way Gmail evaluates sender reputation is through email authentication. There are three authentication protocols used to determine whether or not an email is legitimate—SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
With the new guidelines, Gmail requires all senders to authenticate with either SPF or DKIM. Bulk senders sending 5,000 or more messages per day must pass all three authentications:
SPF Authentication
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a basic authentication method that involves checking whether an email was sent from an authorized server.
With SPF authentication, domain owners specify the IP addresses authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. When an email is received, the recipient’s servers check whether the sending IP address is listed in the SPF record.
If the IP address is listed, the email is considered legitimate and is more likely to be delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
DKIM authentication
DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail) complements SPF in helping Gmail verify the authenticity of emails. With DKIM authentication, your email server uses a private key to add a digital signature to each outgoing email and publishes the key in its DNS record.
When the sent email is received, the recipient’s mail server retrieves the public key from your domain’s DNS records to verify the DKIM signature on the email. If the e-signature is valid, the email is considered legitimate and is more likely to be delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
DMARC authentication
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) provides reporting mechanisms for emails failing SPF and DKIM authentication checks.
DMARC authentication provides clear instructions to receiving servers on how to handle emails claiming to be from your domain. You can choose one of three actions:
- None: The server sends you reports on emails that fail SPF or DKIM authentication checks but does not take action on them.
- Quarantine: The receiving server quarantines the emails if they fail SPF or DKIM authentication checks, such as sending them to the recipient’s spam folder.
- Reject: The receiving server rejects emails that fail SPF or DKIM authentication checks, preventing them from being delivered to recipients’ mailboxes.
Why Are the Email Guidelines Essential to Implement?
Following the Google Bulk Sender Guidelines is essential for effective email marketing as it ensures that messages are delivered to Gmail accounts as expected. Contrary to some opinions, the Google Sender requirements affect all email senders.
In this section, we’ll examine the different ways the new Gmail rules affect email senders.
What Should I Do if I Don’t Send 5,000 Emails per Day?
You may see in some online spaces that the new Google Email Sender guidelines do not apply to people who send 5,000 or more messages per day, but that is not true.
The new guidelines have requirements for email senders that do not send up to 5,000 emails per day. These include:
- Setting up SPF and DKIM authentication for sending domains.
- Ensuring that sending domains or IPs have valid forward and reverse DNS records.
- Using a TLS connection for transmitting email.
- Keeping spam complaint rates below 0.30%.
- Adding ARC headers to outgoing emails when using a forwarding service.
However, we recommend doing more than what Google requires.
For example, senders that do not send 5,000 emails per day are only required to set up SPF and DKIM authentications for sending domains. DMARC authentication is not required. But we recommend adding that anyways.
Also, Google does not require adding an unsubscribe link to emails when sending less than 5,000 per day. However, we recommend adding unsubscribe links to all your marketing emails.
Doing more than what Google requires prepares you to meet the requirements of larger sends in the future. Remember that you may need to start sending 5,000 or more messages per day as your business grows.
Doing more than Google requires is not just for the future. It also helps you today by improving your deliverability rate.
For example, setting DMARC authentication (even when you are not required to) enhances your sender’s reputation, which can lead to better inbox placement. Also, adding a clearly visible unsubscribe link to your email (even when you are not required to) can reduce your spam complaint rate, leading to better inbox placement.
What Should I Do If I Send 5,000 Emails per Day?
If your email volume exceeds 5,000 per day, you must undergo the full authentication protocol. This involves authenticating your email-sending domain with SPF and DKIM and establishing a DMARC Policy. Furthermore, it’s essential to include a simple unsubscribe option in the email header.
If you have not already, it is also imperative to start following the guidelines for spam rate requirements.
How Does This Affect Your Cold Email Strategy?
The new Google bulk sender guidelines call for making cold emailing more systematic and intent-based.
Even though cold emailing entails sending marketing and promotional messages to people you don’t have a prior connection with, the main reason Google occasionally updates its email sender guidelines is to better protect users from unsolicited and malicious messages.
However, the new bulk sender guidelines should not signal the end of cold emailing. Rather, it means cold emailing should be more intent-based.
Consider that one requirement of the guideline is keeping your reported spam rate below 0.30%. This suggests that Google’s problem is with unwanted messages that are reported as spam. Google seems to have no issues with senders if recipients find value in their unsolicited emails and do not mark them as spam.
So, rather than signaling the end of cold emailing, the new Google mail rules should make you implement cold emailing strategies that lead to low spam report rates.
For example, consider using a targeted approach instead of the “spray-and-pray” cold emailing approach of indiscriminately distributing emails to as many recipients as possible and hoping that some of these emails will result in conversions.
With a “spray-and-pray” approach, more people will report your emails as spam, and you may fail to meet the new guideline’s requirement of keeping the reported spam rate below 0.30%
But when you send personalized messages to specific, well-researched audiences who are likely to be interested in your message, more people will find value in your cold emails, reducing your reported spam rate.
This is another reason why you build a list of engaged subscribers instead of buying an email list. Bought lists may contain people who may not be interested in your message, who’ll then report you as spam increasing your reported spam rate.
4 Steps to Comply with Gmail’s Bulk Sender Changes
Complying with the new Gmail bulk sender guidelines improves email deliverability, which is essential for successful email marketing campaigns. Compliance with the Google email rules (2024) requires setting up SFP, DKIM, and DMARC authentications and enabling one-click unsubscribing. This section will explain how to do so.
1. Set up SPF
Setting up SPF authentication requires adding a one-line DNS TXT record to your domain. The record is: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all.
In this example, the SPF record authorizes emails to be sent from Google’s mail server (_spf.google.com). The “~all” qualifier means that emails from unauthorized sources should be treated with caution but not necessarily rejected.
The specific steps for setting up SPF authentication will vary slightly depending on your domain registrar. For most registrars, the steps include:
Step 1: Log in to your domain registrar.
Step 2: Navigate to your domain’s DNS settings section.
Step 3: Click the option to manage your DNS records.
Step 4: Create a new DNS record. To do this:
- Select TXT as the record type.
- Enter @ in the name or hostname field, depending on your registrar’s interface.
- Enter your SPF record (v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all) in the value or data field, depending on your registrar’s interface.
- Leave the TTL at the default (1hr) setting.
Step 5: Save the changes.
It may take up to 48 hours for your changes to be effected.
2. Set up DKIM
Both low-volume and bulk senders are required to set up DKIM for their sending domains.
When sending your emails through Google Workspace accounts, setting up DKIM starts with getting your DKIM key. To do this:
- Go to your Google Admin section and click App.
- Click Google Workspace in the App pane and select Gmail from the option.
- In the Gmail window, select Authenticate email.
- Click Generate New record. Select 2048 for the DKIM key bit length and leave the PRefix Selector as the default.
- Copy the DNS Hostname and the TXT record value.
Next, go to your domain registrar to add the DNS record to your domain. To do this, follow these steps:
Step 1: Log in to your domain registrar.
Step 2: Navigate to your domain’s DNS settings section.
Step 3: Click the option to manage your DNS records.
Step 4: Create a new DKIM record. To do this:
- Select TXT as the record type.
- Enter the DNS hostname you copied in the name or hostname field, depending on your registrar’s interface.
- Enter the TXT record value you copied in the value or data field, depending on your registrar’s interface.
- Leave the TTL at the default (1hr) setting.
Step 5: Save the changes.
Then, wait for your changes to be effected. It may take up to 48 hours.
3. Set up DMARC
To set up DMARC, you’ll need to have configured either SPF or DKIM authentications.
When you have SPF or DKIM set up, choose a DMARC record wizard (like dmarcian) to generate a DMARC record to add to your domain’s DNS.
Enter your domain name and click START CREATING.
Follow the on-screen prompts.
In the end, you’ll get the DMARC record and hostname to add to your domain’s DNS.
Next, go to your domain registrar to add the DMARC record to your domain.
Step 1: Log in to your domain registrar.
Step 2: Navigate to your domain’s DNS settings section.
Step 3: Click the option to manage your DNS records.
Step 4: Create a new DKIM record. To do this:
- Select TXT as the record type.
- Enter the DMARC hostname generated by the DMARC record wizard in the name or hostname field.
- Enter the DMARC record generated by the DMARC record wizard in the value or data field.
- Leave the TTL at the default (1hr) setting.
Step 5: Save the changes.
It’ll take a couple of hours for your changes to be effected.
4. Enable One-Click Unsubscribe
Adding Gmail one-click unsubscribe is easy with Mailsuite. The email extension allows you to add an unsubscribe link to your message body with just a few clicks when sending the email.
With Mailsuite, you simply compose your email campaign and click the Continue button to send it. This opens a window to preview your campaign.
In this preview window, you’ll find an Include unsubscribe link checkbox. To send your message, simply check the box and click Send Now.
Mailsuite will add a prominent unsubscribe link to the bottom of your emails.
Any subscriber who wishes to unsubscribe from messages from you can easily hit the unsubscribe link to do so. Mailsuite and some other bulk email services also offer custom unsubscribe links, which allow you to customize the appearance (format and text) of the link.
Takeaway: Send Compliant Emails with Mailsuite
The new Google email rules, which come into effect in 2024, apply to all email senders sending messages to personal Gmail accounts.
Mailsuite can help you send emails that comply with the new Gmail sender guidelines.
Mailsuite has important features that can help you boost mail deliverability and increase the effectiveness of your email campaigns, like automatic unsubscribe links, batch sending, and bounce detection.
Get Mailsuite today to make sure you follow Google’s new sender guidelines!
