Getting email to your Gmail or Yahoo inbox is becoming increasingly difficult. Google and Yahoo are implementing new sending guidelines starting February 1, 2024, as part of a partnership aimed at fighting spam and spoofing.
The update has caused concern among companies that send marketing emails. However, with the tips below, you can successfully overcome this problem and continue receiving campaigns in your inbox.
Send emails to your Gmail and Yahoo inbox: rules
Gmail and Yahoo are among the most popular email service providers around the world. If you’re a company that does email marketing, chances are your email list includes a lot of his Gmail and Yahoo contacts.
To access these inboxes, starting February 1st, you must follow these guidelines:
Verify email
Email authentication seems to be a top concern for Google and Yahoo. Email authentication uses a specific set of standards to verify the origin of an email and ensure that the email is legitimate.
“Many bulk senders do not have their systems properly secured and configured, making it easy for attackers to hide within them. “We’ve focused on verifying sender identity,” said Neil Kumaran, Google’s group product manager for Gmail security and trust.
So what does email authentication require? Here are three standards recommended by Google and Yahoo. Although not new, these authentication methods are now required if you want your email to reach your Gmail or Yahoo inbox.
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF) You can specify which mail servers are allowed to send email from your domain. Therefore, the receiving server can identify malicious emails that appear to come from your company.
- DomainKeys Identified Mail Standard (DKIM) Prevent spammers from spoofing your domain and sending emails on your behalf. DKIM allows you to add a unique signature to your emails to ensure that the email was actually sent by someone and not an imposter. “When you set up DKIM within your domain provider’s DNS settings, you add another way to say to your recipients, ‘Yes, it’s really me sending you this message,'” Google explains. .
- Domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance (DMARC) Adjust your SPF and DKIM policies to tell receiving servers what to do with outgoing email that doesn’t pass SPF and DKIM checks. This prevents spoofers from spoofing your domain and sending spam.
Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can be difficult if you have no experience with email authentication. However, ignoring email verification is not an option. Gmail and Yahoo mark the message as spam. Therefore, consider using the above standards to secure your domain and protect it from impersonation attacks.
Enable unsubscribe with one click
Want to be removed from your email list with just one click? Well, that update is coming soon. Google and Yahoo are making it easier for users to opt out of marketing emails by forcing bulk senders to enable one-click unsubscribes. Your email service provider must support this feature. Check with your account manager to make sure everything is set up correctly.
Additionally, Google and Yahoo have different unsubscription rules in place. Starting February 1st, you’ll have two days to unsubscribe, so make sure everyone who opts out stops receiving emails. Not only is this the current rule, but it also helps you avoid spam complaints and stay in your Google and Yahoo inboxes.
Keep spam complaint rate below 0.1%
When people report your email as spam, they tell Google, Yahoo, and other email providers that your messages are annoying. This is a red flag and begs the question, “Why should the email be in my inbox?” So it’s no wonder that high spam complaint rates lead to campaigns being sent to the Junk folder.
But what does a high spam complaint rate mean? Google and Yahoo need to worry about anything above 0.1%, or 1 complaint for every 1,000 emails. says. The two providers’ goal is to make email safe and enjoyable for their users, so it makes sense to not allow unsolicited emails in your inbox.
Check the latest spam complaint rates. If it is greater than 0.1%, it is important to identify the cause. You may be sending too many emails, or the content may not be what your audience was expecting. Also, reconsider the style of your subject line. For example, are you using too many emojis or spam words?
Every detail is important, so scrutinize everything.
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Bonus tips for getting emails to your inbox
Google and Yahoo updates may be top of mind for email marketing teams right now. Following the above guidelines will definitely improve the performance of your email campaigns. However, email deliverability, or reaching the inbox, requires more than this.
Here are some additional tips to reach your audience.
- Pay attention to your bounce rate. If more than 2% of your emails bounce, future campaigns may end up in your spam folder. To avoid bounces, be sure to verify your email database quarterly.
- Avoid long breaks. Stick to your sending schedule to keep your company a familiar presence in people’s inboxes. Sending regular emails increases healthy engagement rates and improves email deliverability.
- Submit your best content. Many businesses don’t realize the important role content plays in how it reaches your inbox. But your content will make people open or ignore your emails. To build trust with your audience, strive to send useful emails that inform, educate, and entertain. Check all three boxes to earn points.
brief summary
To prepare for Google and Yahoo updates, verify your email, enable one-click unsubscribes, accept unsubscribes within two days, and keep spam complaint rates low. Additionally, validate your list and consistently deliver great emails to your audience. This will help you build trust with your email provider and subscribers.