Are mailto links compliant with Google and Yahoo's one-click unsubscribe requirements?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that list-unsubscribe headers with mailto: links are an acceptable but less preferred method for one-click unsubscribe compared to the RFC 8058 standard. Major email providers are increasingly favoring the RFC 8058 method.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that from a user perspective mailto links are essentially one click unsubscribes, but they don't meet the technical requirements of RFC 8058 which is now required by Google.
Email marketer from StackOverflow mentions that RFC8058 using POST requests is the preferred method for one-click unsubscribe as it provides a reliable way to confirm the unsubscription and aligns with current email provider expectations.
Email marketer from Word to the Wise explains that while mailto: links might seem like a one-click solution, they lack the confirmation and standardization offered by RFC 8058, which Google now requires.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that Google won’t consider `mailto` to be compliant with one-click unsubscribe requirements, possibly as soon as June 1st, and that Google is requiring RFC 8058 compliance.
Email marketer from Email Geeks clarifies that to be compliant with one click unsub with yahoo you have to implement rfc8058, but they will still tolerate mailto. For now.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that while mailto: links have been used for unsubscribing, modern best practices and emerging requirements favor the RFC 8058 standard for improved user experience and deliverability.
Email marketer from EmailOctopus states that while mailto: links are a simple unsubscribe method, they don't provide feedback and can be flagged as less reliable compared to web-based unsubscribe processes, especially concerning new deliverability requirements.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the URL in the List-Unsubscribe header should open a human readable page that offers the user a chance to unsubscribe when you open it in a browser and if it doesn’t, that’s a bug.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that while mailto: links might seem like a one-click solution, they lack the confirmation and standardization offered by RFC 8058, which Google now requires.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the problem with mailto is that there’s no confirmation that it worked, but that 8058 mandates that the POST returns with a success if it worked, and not if it didn’t.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that to meet Google's one-click unsubscribe requirement, you must use List-Unsubscribe email headers in all commercial, promotional messages, as described in RFC 8058 and in the Email sender guidelines, and include one HTTPS URL in the List-unsubscribe: header. Mailto links do not meet this requirement.
Documentation from datatracker.ietf.org (RFC 8058) defines a method for one-click unsubscribe using the List-Unsubscribe header with a POST request, which is preferred by major mailbox providers.
Documentation from Senders Yahooinc explains that when implementing a functioning list-unsubscribe header, which supports one-click unsubscribe for marketing and subscribed messages; the Post (RFC 8058) method is highly recommended and the mail-to: method is acceptable.
Documentation from datatracker.ietf.org (RFC 2369) explains that mailto: is a method of using a 'List-Unsubscribe:' header to allow users to easily unsubscribe from mailing lists, which predates the one-click unsubscribe standards and lacks confirmation mechanisms.