How does a missing DKIM DNS TXT record affect email deliverability?

Email marketer from SocketLabs explains that not using DKIM means your emails are more likely to be flagged as spam. Email providers use DKIM, along with other authentication methods like SPF and DMARC, to assess the legitimacy of email senders.

Email marketer from Postmark shares that DKIM authenticates the emails that come from your domain, improving your sender reputation and helping avoid spam filters. Without it, your email is more likely to be marked as spam.

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares their opinion, suggesting Google might send the message to spam or defer/bounce it if the DKIM public key is missing from the DNS TXT record. However, they state they don't have any evidence on if it's any worse than not signing.

Email marketer from SendPulse shares that without a DKIM record, ISPs and email providers are more likely to view your emails as potentially fraudulent, significantly harming your sender reputation and leading to poor deliverability.

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that Yahoo previously didn't penalize for DKIM failure, although that might have changed recently.

Email marketer from DigitalOcean responds stating that DKIM helps prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks, which improves an email’s reputation, and helps make sure the email gets delivered to the recipient.

Email marketer from StackOverflow suggests that failing to implement DKIM can increase the likelihood of your emails being treated with suspicion. Email providers use DKIM (and SPF) as strong indicators of whether a sender is legitimate. Without it, deliverability suffers.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that a missing DKIM DNS TXT record makes it difficult for receiving servers to validate the authenticity of emails coming from your domain. Many email servers treat unsigned email with greater suspicion and filter it into spam or junk folders.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that a missing or improperly configured DKIM record can lead to emails being flagged as spam or blocked by receiving servers because it raises suspicion about the sender's authenticity.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that a missing DKIM record signals to email providers that your domain may not be trustworthy, as it fails to provide a verifiable signature. This can lead to increased spam filtering and decreased inbox placement.

Email marketer from SparkPost responds that if a DKIM record is missing or invalid, receiving mail servers cannot verify the sender's identity, potentially resulting in messages being filtered into the spam folder or rejected outright.

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains it simply by stating only a pass equals a pass, while a fail or not present is not a pass.

Expert from Word to the Wise responds, highlighting that implementing DMARC is not possible without first implementing SPF and DKIM, and without a DMARC policy in place, it's likely that email attacks against an organization will not be prevented effectively.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that technically, there's no difference between a mail with no DKIM header and one with a signature that doesn’t validate. Both are unsigned mail. However, a receiver might read something into it, and machine learning filters might recognize it.

Expert from Email Geeks asks why a message that fails DKIM should be treated differently than a message with no DKIM signature.

Expert from SpamResource explains that DKIM is vital for establishing the authenticity of your email campaigns and ensuring that emails are not classified as spam, because ISPs use DKIM as a signal that emails are legitimate.

Documentation from RFC 6376 (the DKIM standard) details that DKIM provides a cryptographic signature that allows a receiving system to verify that a message was sent by an authorized sender, thereby improving trust and deliverability.

Documentation from EasyDMARC details that DKIM prevents spoofing by adding a digital signature to email headers, which receiving servers validate, thereby reducing the risk of phishing attacks, and increasing the likelihood your emails are successfully delivered.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that DKIM is essential for demonstrating that a message truly comes from the domain it claims to, improving deliverability by verifying email authenticity and preventing spoofing.

Documentation from Auth0 clarifies that the purpose of DKIM is to provide an email with a digital signature, which email providers can use to verify the messages legitimacy, helping improve deliverability, and it ensures the message has not been altered during transit.

Documentation from Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Documentation states that DKIM helps prevent spoofing by verifying the domain from which email messages are sent. Without a valid DKIM record, emails may be marked as spam or rejected.