Navigating 2024 Google Bulk Sender Guidelines: A Step-By-Step Guide
May 2, 2024. Written by Keli Dantin. Original article has been updated to include new details of bulk email limits released by Microsoft.
On February 1, 2024 a new update was released to the Google Bulk Sender Guidelines. And in April, Google began rejecting a small percentage of non-compliant email traffic. Yahoo and Microsoft soon followed suit.
The February 2024 Google update will impact any email accounts that sends 5,000+ emails per day to personal Gmail accounts. A personal Gmail account is one that ends in @gmail.com or @googlemail.com.
The three main focus areas of Google’s update is reported spam rates, authentication, and opt-out feature availability. In this article, we’ll break down the Google bulk sender guidelines to help marketers understand and adhere to these new changes.
What Does Google’s 2024 Email Changes Mean For Businesses?
Possibly nothing, if your focus is strictly B2B. Google’s February 2024 email changes affect personal email accounts only.
The Email sender guidelines don’t apply to messages sent to Google Workspace accounts. Sender requirements and Google enforcement apply only when sending email to personal Gmail accounts.
Reference: Google Email Sender Guidelines FAQ
However, the original Spam & Abuse policy in Gmail does still apply if you own a Google Workspace account and/or send large volumes of emails to Google Workspace accounts.
If your focus is B2C, you need to pay close attention to these changes. With 4 billion people using email daily, it offers an unparalleled platform to reach and engage your target audience. If done correctly, email marketing is the most cost-effective sales strategy. According to a recent study by Statista, email marketing revenue worldwide is expected to reach 17.9 billion by 2027.
The catch? Notice the key phrase used above: if done correctly.
Experienced marketers have long since paid close attention to recommended best practices for email marketing campaigns. Afterall, what good are resources spent on email marketing if your emails are never seen by your audience?
However, the 2024 update from Google shifts “best practices” to mandatory requirements. Failure to comply may lead to your emails landing in spam folders or even worse, being completely blocked from delivery. These actions will eventually lead to detrimental effects to the reputation of your domain.
In April 2024, we’ll start rejecting a percentage of non-compliant email traffic, and we’ll gradually increase the rejection rate. For example, if 75% of a sender’s traffic meets our requirements, we’ll start rejecting a percentage of the remaining 25% of traffic that isn’t compliant.
Reference: Google Email Sender Guidelines FAQ
How to Comply with New Google Bulk Sender Guidelines
The primary focus of the updated Google bulk sender guidelines require the configuration of several email authentication methods for your domain. Also included are guidelines about spam rates, ARC headers and unsubscribe options.
Email Account Configurations
Authenticated messages are less likely to be marked as spam and/or rejected by Gmail. They protect email recipients from malicious emails and protect the sender from being impersonated.
01. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
SPF is a security mechanism created to prevent spammers from sending emails on your behalf. It defines which IP addresses (including external tools services you’re using, for example, mailgun.com), can be used to send emails from your domain. If you don’t set it up, others could impersonate you and send messages from your domain, potentially damaging your reputation.
Setting up SPF is a two step process. First you must define your SPF record, this will be the basic setup process for this security mechanism. Then you have to add the newly defined SPF record at your domain provider.
02. DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail)
DKIM is a security standard that detects email spoofing by applying a digital signature to your emails. Think of it as a seal on your emails. If this seal is tampered with, it signals that your emails were altered in transit between sending and receiving email servers..
The DKIM can easily be set up via this tutorial.
03. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)
DMARC is an email authentication and reporting protocol. It is designed to combat email phishing and spoofing by providing a framework for email senders to authenticate their messages and instruct email receivers on how to handle unauthenticated messages.
Here’s a tutorial from Google if you need some help with setting it up. Warmup Inbox offers a free tool if you need to create a valid DMARC record.
For accounts that send more than 5,000 direct emails per day, there is an extra requirement to pass DMARC alignment – the domain in your From: header must be aligned with the SPF or DKIM domain. To learn more about how to define your DMARC record, click here.
Still confused about SPF, DKIM and DMARC? Try this video tutorial to learn more.
04. DNS Pointer Record (also known as PTR Record)
The Domain Name System (DNS) turns human readable domain names (for example, www.google.com) into IP addresses, which is a series of numbers and decimals. Every computer and device connected to the internet has a unique IP address. The IP address is how devices locate other devices. A PTR record provides the domain name associated with an IP address.
Google’s new sending guidelines require senders to have a valid forward and reverse DNS record, aka a PTR record. You can use the Google Admin Toolbox Dig tool to check for a PTR record.
05. TLS (Transport Layer Security)
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a standard internet protocol that encrypts email for privacy and provides end-to-end security of data during delivery. Under these Google bulk sender guidelines, a TLS connection must be used when transmitting email. If you have a Google Workspace (i.e. a paid account), here is a link to the guidelines from Google for setting up a TLS.
Reported Spam Rates
Ever wonder why some emails reach inboxes while others vanish into the spam abyss? Frequent spam reports on messages from your domain can significantly impact your future deliverability. In short, the more recipients mark your emails as spam, the less likely they'll land in their inboxes at all.
This is where domain reputation comes in. It's a score assigned by email providers based on your sending history and engagement. A positive reputation ensures your emails reach intended recipients, while a negative one gets them filtered out as spam.
The good news? You can actively monitor and improve your domain reputation using tools like Postmaster Tools. With this free service, you can:
Track spam reports: See how many recipients mark your emails as spam.
Analyze engagement: Monitor open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes to understand how recipients interact with your emails.
Implement best practices: Access resources and recommendations to improve your sending reputation.
For best deliverability, Google bulk sender guidelines recommends keeping your domain’s spam rate below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching a spam rate of 0.30% or higher. Your spam rate is the percentage of total emails sent that are marked as spam by users. The “user” can be the person who owns the email address or the system that manages their email security settings (the latter applies mainly with business accounts).
Thus, getting marked as spam is sort of out of our hands as email marketers. The real catch is creating value in your email in the eye of the recipient. If you’d like some help with how to write emails that deliver value and how to send emails according to email marketing best practices for deliverability, please reach out to us to connect. Email marketing is our expertise and experience is the key to effective email marketing.
ARC Headers
An Authenticated Received Chain (ARC) is another email authentication system designed specifically for email forwards and mailing lists. An ARC allows intermediate mail servers to sign an email’s original authentication results. If you use mailing lists, inbound gateways or regularly forward email, you should add ARC headers to your outgoing emails. Learn more about ARC email authentication from Google Workspace Admin.
One-Click Unsubscribe
If you send more than 5,000 emails per day, your messages must support one-click unsubscribe. This will allow people to easily opt-out of receiving future marketing emails from you. Here are instructions from Google Workspace on how to set up one-click unsubscribe.
Yahoo Email Sender Requirements
In February of 2024 Yahoo began enforcing similar sending standards to the Google bulk sender guidelines. And like Google, Yahoo also announced it would enforce a gradual roll out. Click here to view a summary of the Yahoo Email Sender Requirements and Recommendations.
Facing the Consequences of the Google Bulk Sender Guidelines Update
Email marketing is a powerful tool, but only if your messages actually reach your audience. Not adhering to the minimum authentication requirements may land you in spam jail. If emails are continuously marked as spam from your domain, every future email you send is more susceptible to the same fate.
Forbes author Davey Winder stated in this February 14, 2024 article Google confirmed that beginning in April it will “start rejecting a percentage of non-compliant email traffic.” Google further confirmed that their enforcement of the 2024 Google bulk sender guidelines will be gradual and progressive. The Forbes article also quotes Google as giving a deadline of June 1st for bulk senders to implement a one-click unsubscribe option.
By following the recommendations provided in this guide, you’ll create the foundation for success with your email marketing efforts. As with any other process though, the foundation is just the beginning. What you write in your messages and your subject lines, how and when you send emails, and how you validate your data can all negatively impact your spam rate as well. Here is a resource directly from Google with more insight into all of the email marketing best sending practices.
Microsoft Exchange Online External Recipient Rate Limit
Following in Google’s footsteps, Microsoft announced the implementation of an External Recipient Rate (ERR) limit that will become effective in January 2025. The ERR aims to curb abuse and unfair practices related to bulk email sending.
Microsoft Exchange Online was not originally designed for high-volume transactional email. Thus, Exchange Online had no specific limits on bulk email. This change will address that when Microsoft begins enforcing an ERR limit of 2,000 recipients in 24 hours. The new ERR limit will be a sub-limit within the existing 10,000 recipient rate limit.
You can send to up to 2,000 external recipients in a 24-hour period, and if you max out the external recipient rate limit then you will still be able to send to up to 8,000 internal recipients in that same period. If you don't send to any external recipients in a 24-hour period, you can send to up to 10,000 internal recipients.
Reference: Microsoft Exchange Online blog post published on April 15, 2024.
How Lavish Can Help
As a premier sales and marketing agency, top of the funnel sales is our specialty. Email marketing is the most efficient strategy a business can incorporate to ensure their top of the funnel is healthy. Coupled with an effective lead gen strategy and automation tools (like our favorite, Apollo), we’ve helped many clients achieve a consistent stream of new leads. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business achieve top of the funnel success with email marketing. Lavish is owned and operated by Keli Dantin.
