Google + Yahoo's new sending requirements: Get ready without changing your marketing strategy

You’ve probably heard about the new sending requirements from Google and Yahoo. And maybe you’re worried. But don’t stress—we have good news.

First, there’s no rush. None of these changes will take effect until the first quarter of 2024.

Second, the established requirements are good for your customers, good for your deliverability score, and you’re likely already doing most of them.

Shane McElroy, product manager at Klaviyo, strongly agrees:

“The upcoming requirements have long been recommended by inbox providers as best practices. By moving from recommendation to enforcement, Google and Yahoo are making it clear that proper authentication is essential for email marketing success.”

“Meeting these requirements will make it easier for inbox providers to identify you as a legitimate sender, which in turn will make it easier than ever for you to reach your subscribers,” he adds.

Quick note: Google’s requirements are stricter, so once you meet Google’s requirements, you’ll also meet Yahoo’s. We’ll go through Google’s requirements in this article.

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Let’s start with some basics

Who needs to make changes? Everyone—especially bulk senders

Google has a new set of requirements for all senders, with additional rules for bulk senders (those sending 5,000 or more emails per day to Google accounts).

If you’re unsure if you meet that 5,000 threshold, here are some guidelines:

• Google will count personal accounts ending in @gmail.com and @googlemail.com.
• They will also count work or school accounts from Google Workspace—many of which don’t necessarily end in @gmail.com.
• All traffic from a specific sender counts toward that 5k threshold, including transactional emails.

So, you might be closer to that 5k threshold—and qualify as a bulk sender—than you realize.

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Let’s look at what the changes are and what you can do to prepare.

3 major new requirements to plan for

There are 3 main requirements you must meet if you’re a bulk sender:

1. Set up DMARC authentication for your sending domain
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   • It’s good to get ahead of the new requirement. You can set up DMARC authentication for your sending domain yourself in your DNS provider, and you can do this at any time. Your DMARC enforcement policy can be set to none, and Google has some specific guidelines to help you succeed.
   • Keep an eye out for a tutorial (coming soon!) from Klaviyo Academy.
   • Lauren Del Vecchio, manager of global email deliverability at Klaviyo, shares a tip about DMARC: “Configuring DMARC p=none is a great first step to analyze mail streams using your domain and working towards DMARC enforcement.”
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2. Align your "From:" header with your domain
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   • If you’re a bulk sender, you need your own sending domain—you can no longer use a shared domain. The domain in your friendly "From:" header (what your subscribers see in their inbox) must match your sending domain to comply with DMARC alignment.
   • This applies to both marketing and transactional emails.
   • Note: While you can’t use a shared domain, you don’t need a dedicated IP—a shared one is still OK.
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3. Make unsubscribing easier and clearer
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   • This requirement actually consists of two things:
     • Your marketing emails must include a method to unsubscribe in just one step.
     • There must also be an unsubscribe link in the message, but that link doesn’t need to lead to an unsubscribe with one click.
   • “If it’s difficult for your recipients to unsubscribe, they’re more likely to mark your emails as spam, which damages your deliverability reputation,” says McElroy.
   • It’s true. A clearly visible unsubscribe link and a short path to stop receiving marketing messages are best practices. So, if you need to meet this requirement, know that your deliverability score, sender reputation, and customer engagement will likely improve once you get this sorted.
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Klaviyo will implement a "list unsubscribe header" (instructions to Gmail and Yahoo to provide an unsubscribe link at the top of the email), which starts before February 1, 2024. This will automatically comply with the 'one click to unsubscribe' requirement. All marketing emails created in Klaviyo will be equipped with this without brands needing to configure anything.

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Requirements for all senders

If you send to Google email accounts—even if you don’t regularly send 5,000 messages or more per day—you must comply with some new requirements.

Keep your spam rates low

• You’re likely already trying to keep your spam complaints as low as possible to avoid the spam folder—now you must keep them below 0.30%. You can use Google’s Postmaster Tools to monitor your spam complaint rates.
• “Keeping spam complaints low has always been a deliverability best practice. This new requirement gives senders crystal clear guidelines and the tools you need to take full control over your sending reputation,” says Del Vecchio.

Don’t spoof Gmail "From:" headers

• This only affects you if you’re an entrepreneur just starting out. If you don’t have your own domain and you use gmail.com or googlemail.com in your friendly "From:" address, your emails will land in the spam folder.
• So, if you’re considering getting your own domain, it’s worth investing in it before February 1, 2024.
• Del Vecchio sees this requirement as 100% positive: “Ultimately,” she says, “this is a great chance to build your brand’s reputation with inbox providers and recognition with your customers.”

Are there any other new requirements?

There are also several new requirements that if you’re using Klaviyo, you don’t need to worry about, because Klaviyo has already taken care of those for you.

Those are:

• Setting up SPF and DKIM email authentication for your domain
• Ensuring your sending domain and IP have valid forward and reverse DNS records
• Formatting messages according to the Internet Messaging Format standard

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Do you have any questions about the sending requirements after reading this article? Contact Polaris Growth.

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