Google New Policy 1 Feb 2024

Gmail Cracks Down on Rogue Bulk Emails: What Your Business Needs to Know

gmail-gets-serious-with-email-sender-authentication

Google & Yahoo updates their policy for sending bulk emails to Gmail & Yahoo accounts

Effective 1st February 2024, Gmail (& Yahoo) will enforce stricter policies for users who send 5,000 or more emails daily to their inboxes. As ActiveDEMAND users, you most likely already comply with their new requirements, provided SPF, DMARC and DKIM settings are correctly set on your DNS.

Please note, that if you are not fully compliant, your email deliverability will nose-dive.

Now is a good time to check your compliance. ... The link to the official Google Update is here.

If you are B2B, then likely you wont be even close to the 5,000/day Google is setting. Just be warned Google has left the door open to reducing that limit, so it would be prudent to check your compliance anyway and please make sure you have SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place and verified. The DMARC policy is the new requirement.

If you are B2C, make sure your DNS settings are correct by the end of January 2024 and comply with their new spam rate threshold of 0.3% we we outline below. If cold email outreach is part of your bulk email activities, please take note!

To check your SPF, DKIM, DMARC or other DNS settings, Click the White Labelling button.

Gmail's New Policy:

Authenticity: Emails must be verified to prove they come from who they claim to be. This means the setting for SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your DNS, must be in place. These add a digital handshake to your messages to prove they came from you. You must have all of these in place

Consent: Unsubscribe buttons should be readily available and functional without jumping through hoops to Unsub! (You can't actually send an ActiveDEMAND email without the Unsubscribe link being present). From February 2024 onwards, ActiveDEMAND enabled 1 Click Unsubscribe in the email header when viewed on a Gmail account.

Quality Control: Google will also enforce a spam rate threshold of 0.3% (i.e., the percentage of outgoing messages reported as spam by recipients. Thats 3/1000) in Google Postmaster Tools which you must stay below. Spam traps are out to catch the fishy ones. Keep your email list clean and valid, and send relevant content to avoid landing in the spam folder. Make use of the Email Tester in your ActiveDEMAND email Editor. That will check your authentication + make sure your emails are validated as coming from you. It will also check for too many "spammy" words that can trigger your message to the spam folder.

Why the Change?

Gmail is taking measures to protect its users from unwanted emails, including phishing scams, irrelevant promotions, and cluttered inboxes.

What This Means for Your Business:

If you feel safe because you are under the 5,000+ daily email category, listen up! Google goes on to say this policy is not a hard limit.

Here's what to do

Embrace Authentication: Don't be afraid of acronyms like SPF, DMARC and DKIM. We have help articles to set them up and monitor them easily.

Respect Unsubscribes: Make unsubscribing a breeze. Don't bury the link in tiny text, + keep your Unsubscribe page link clear and straightforward. Remember, happy recipients make loyal customers.

💡 We recommend setting up an email preferences link/page as well as the default global Unsubscribe, so that people can select what they want from you and not just Unsubscribe from everything and you lose them.

Focus on Quality Content: Send emails to people who want to receive them. Tailor your messages to specific audiences and offer valuable information or deals. Relevance has always been vital in avoiding the spam bin.

The Take Away

This new policy is a wake-up call for those who indulge in shady/nefarious practices, or just sloppy setup. By prioritising authenticity, respect for users, and content quality, businesses will continue to thrive using email as a key element of their marketing strategy.

So, embrace the change, adapt your strategies, and keep those (Gmail) inboxes happy!

Call us today on 01603 552696 if you need any assistance with this.

If you don't have an ActiveDEMAND account you can:-

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As the official UK reseller and support partner of ActiveDEMAND, Lead Intuition offers marketers the ability to simplify their marketing tech stack with this single powerful platform. ActiveDEMAND is a cloud-based marketing automation platform, empowering marketers, agencies, and Retirement Living businesses to easily enhance their marketing efforts. Streamlined campaign management, funnel visualisation, content hubs, CRM and attribution reporting are just a few features that ActiveDEMAND offers while seamlessly integrating with various other business, sales and marketing applications. Lead Intuition brings the human touch to automation. As an ActiveDEMAND Certified Gold Deployment Partner, you can leverage our technical & digital marketing knowledge with the power of ActiveDEMAND to optimise your marketing strategies and drive impactful results.