In February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo began enforcing requirements for anyone sending bulk email (roughly 5,000+ messages per day to their users). The rules are now standard, and falling short means your mail gets filtered or rejected. Here’s what they require.
1. Authenticate your mail (SPF and DKIM)
Every message must pass SPF and be DKIM-signed for your sending domain. Check both with the free checker. If either is missing, fix it before anything else.
2. Publish a DMARC policy
You need a DMARC record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com — p=none is enough to meet the baseline,
but you should progress to quarantine/reject over time. Don’t have one? Build it with the
DMARC generator.
3. Align your From domain
The visible From: domain must align with the SPF or DKIM domain. Sending from
you@yourbrand.com while authenticating as sendgrid.net fails alignment — use a custom
sending domain that matches your brand.
4. One-click unsubscribe
Bulk senders must support one-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058 List-Unsubscribe headers) and
honour opt-outs within two days. Most reputable ESPs add this automatically.
5. Keep your spam rate low
Stay under a 0.3% spam-complaint rate in Google Postmaster Tools; spikes above that get you throttled. Send to engaged recipients, make unsubscribing easy, and verify your list to reduce complaints.
Quick checklist
- SPF passes and enforces a policy
- DKIM signs your mail
- DMARC record published (
p=noneminimum) - From domain aligned with SPF/DKIM
- One-click unsubscribe present
- Spam rate under 0.3%
Start by running your domain through the checker — it covers the first three in one go.