How will Google & Yahoo's new spam rate threshold affect subdomain and domain reputation and inbox placement?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that enforcing strict authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) on all subdomains is important. This helps ensure that unauthorized senders cannot spoof emails from your domain or subdomains, which can impact deliverability.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that a high spam complaint rate directly affects inbox placement. Email providers are more likely to filter emails to the spam folder if recipients frequently mark them as spam, regardless of domain or subdomain.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor shares that regularly cleaning email lists by removing inactive or unengaged subscribers is essential for maintaining a good sender reputation. Sending emails to engaged subscribers increases the likelihood of positive interactions and reduces spam complaints.
Email marketer from Mailchimp shares that domain reputation significantly impacts inbox placement. Maintaining a positive sending history by authenticating emails and avoiding spam traps can help improve domain reputation and deliverability.
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for email authentication. These protocols help verify the sender's identity, improving deliverability and protecting against spoofing and phishing attacks, which can negatively impact domain reputation.
Email marketer from SendGrid responds that using subdomains can help isolate reputation issues. If one subdomain experiences a high spam rate, it may not affect the reputation of the root domain or other subdomains, provided they are properly separated and managed.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum responds that properly warming up new IPs and domains is critical to avoid being flagged as spam. Gradually increasing sending volume and monitoring engagement metrics can help establish a positive reputation with email providers.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that continuously monitoring deliverability metrics like bounce rates, spam complaints, and inbox placement is essential. Identifying and addressing issues promptly can help maintain a positive sending reputation and improve inbox placement.
Email marketer from Validity (formerly Return Path) responds that participating in feedback loops (FBLs) is crucial for identifying and addressing spam complaints. FBLs provide valuable data on which recipients are marking emails as spam, allowing senders to take corrective action.
What the experts say8Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks reassures that if the technical aspects are sorted, mail streams are well isolated, and the main mail stream is generally wanted, there is not much to worry about.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that authentication and other sender requirements protect the user from spammers and phishers, and will give them a better user experience. If senders are properly authenticated and have the users best interest at heart, these requirements are easy to meet.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that the new requirements will not be rolled out suddenly, but rather gradually with increasing deferrals and enforcement over months. They expect no real change based on reputation in the initial months, but anticipate issues in Q3 for those without signed mail or RFC 8058 unsubscription support. Filtering based on recipient perceptions may increase later on.
Expert from Email Geeks states there's no truly relevant public measure of domain reputation for mail handling. While some correlation exists, it's not very useful unless reputation is terrible. Aim for good behavior instead of optimizing for public reputation scores.
Expert from Word to the Wise responds that failing to meet the new sender requirements will cause deliverability issues. Senders need to address authentication, spam rates, and list management to comply.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that exceeding a 0.3% spam report rate indicates practices are already unacceptable and risk delivery issues. Also reputation from a subdomain is somewhat isolated from the parent domain in most cases, however bad reputation can smear between parent and subdomains.
Expert from Email Geeks says that MBPs aren’t naive and optimize for happy recipients and as long as the main mail stream consistently leads to happy recipients, things should be fine.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that sender reputation is affected by spam complaints, and exceeding the threshold can lead to filtering or blocking. Monitoring reputation and taking corrective action is crucial.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Yahoo Mail Best Practices emphasizes the importance of maintaining a low spam complaint rate. Yahoo suggests implementing feedback loops to identify and address the causes of spam complaints, focusing on user engagement to improve inbox placement.
Documentation from Microsoft Sender Support explains that following sender best practices, such as segmenting email lists and sending relevant content, is critical for maintaining a good sender reputation. Engaging content and targeted messaging can reduce spam complaints and improve inbox placement.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that complying with RFC 8058 for one-click unsubscribe is important. Implementing easy and accessible unsubscribe options can reduce spam complaints and improve sender reputation.
Documentation from Google Sender Guidelines explains that exceeding a spam rate of 0.3% can lead to deliverability issues. Google recommends monitoring spam rates in Postmaster Tools to maintain a good sender reputation.