Understanding Google and Yahoo’s 2024 Guidance for Email Marketers

Overview

Starting in February 2024, Sendlane users will be required to authenticate all Sender Profiles due to changes in Google and Yahoo’s strategies to cut down on unwanted emails appearing in their users’ inboxes. Read on to learn more about upcoming changes from Google and Yahoo, what Sendlane is doing to protect your deliverability, and steps you need to take before February 2024 to ensure smooth sending!

In This Guide

• What Google and Yahoo are doing
• What Sendlane is doing
• What you need to do
• Additional Resources

What Google and Yahoo are doing

Google and Yahoo announced on October 3, 2023, that email marketers must:

1. Authenticate the email addresses they send from (set up SPF and DKIM, and align DMARC records), and
2. Implement one-click unsubscribe links, and
3. Stay under a spam rate of 0.2% 

in order to continue reaching their audience’s inbox as of February 1, 2024. Read Google’s announcement and Yahoo’s announcement of their intended changes for more information.

Google and Yahoo have also emphasized the importance of following all existing best practices for marketing email, outlined in Google’s Email sender guidelines and Yahoo’s Sender Best Practices.

What Sendlane is doing

Sendlane proactively implements best practices from industry leaders right into the app so you can focus on honing your email marketing strategy and worry less about compliance. Here’s what we’ve already implemented and how we’re preparing to help you stay in compliance with Google and Yahoo’s changes:

1. Authenticated senders - We’re introducing an additional method of domain verification and Sender Profile authentication to help customers who aren’t already authenticated make the transition to an authenticated Sender Profile as smooth as possible. Both methods of authentication handle DKIM/SPF and DMARC setup. All you’ll need to do is pick a subdomain to send from, copy and paste DNS records we’ll specify for you into your DNS, and link your verified domain to a sender profile. We’ll walk you through the roughly ten minute process on the Settings > Email page!
2. One click unsubscribe - Sendlane is already in compliance with Google and Yahoo’s unsubscribe header requirements. Unsubscribe links are also a permanent part of the footer on every email sent from the Sendlane platform and cannot be removed by Sendlane users. Sendlane users do not need to take any action with regard to unsubscribe links.
3. Spam rate of <0.2% - Sendlane’s Campaign and Automation reports contain spam complaint data. For even deeper monitoring, you can use Google’s Postmaster tools to specifically monitor your Gmail audience.
4. DMARC records must have the p tag set to none (p=none) - Both of Sendlane’s methods for domain authentication build in a DMARC record with a p=none tag.

What you need to do

1. Verify your sending domain and authenticate all Sender Profiles - After February 1, 2024, unauthenticated Sender Profiles cannot be used to send Automation or Campaign emails. Read What is a Verified Sending Domain? for background information on the process, then follow the instructions in How to Verify a Sending Domain.
2. Ensure your unsubscribe links are easily visible - Sendlane automatically includes unsubscribe links that meet Google and Yahoo’s new requirements in every Campaign and Automation email’s footer, and our email builder ensures that the contrast between your email’s background color and the unsubscribe link is readable. To be safe, check your templates’ footers and ensure the unsubscribe link is clearly visible.
3. Avoid spam complaints - Read Google’s Email sender guidelines and Yahoo’s Sender Best Practices to understand exactly what Google and Yahoo consider to be good sending practices. The most important after February 1, 2024, will be:
   • Send with an authenticated sender profile - We can’t emphasize enough how important domain verification and using authenticated sender profiles are to the health of your sending reputation and deliverability. If you are currently sending from unauthenticated sender profiles, authenticate them as soon as possible. Read What is a Verified Sending Domain? to understand what authentication means, then follow the steps outlined in How to Verify a Sending Domain.
   • Segment your audience - Sending to your entire audience at once has never been a great idea, and after February 2024 it will be a downright bad idea. Segmenting helps ensure you’re sending to the right audience at the right time. Check out Sendlane’s expert advice on segmentation:
   • Why You Should Always Target Your Sends
   • How to Improve Targeting with Advanced Segmentation
   • How to Segment Emails Based on Buyer Persona: Step By Step
   • Send high quality content - Content that your audience actively wants to receive has never been more important to your sending reputation and deliverability. Low quality or irrelevant content can inspire recipients to click spam, so make sure you are sending content that your audience wants to receive. Check out Sendlane’s expert advice on high quality content:
     • Email Deliverability Best Practices - Send Relevant Content
     • The Essential Email Copywriting Guide
     • How to Avoid Sending Clipped Emails to Gmail Users
     • How to Create Personalized Emails for eCommerce

Additional Resources

• Google’s announcement: New Gmail protections for a safer, less spammy inbox
• Google’s Email sender guidelines
• Yahoo’s announcement: More Secure, Less Spam: Enforcing Email Standards for a Better Experience
• Yahoo’s Sender Best Practices
• Blog from Messaging Malware Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG): New Minimum Requirements For Sending Bulk Mail To Gmail And Yahoo