How will Yahoo and Google enforce their new email sender guidelines?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Validity Blog responds that while not a primary enforcement mechanism, compliance with best practices may improve chances of getting on allowlists. However, fundamental authentication, low spam rates, and easy unsubscribe options are critical for overall deliverability.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum answers that senders should actively monitor their sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools. Declining reputation scores could indicate deliverability problems related to non-compliance with the new guidelines.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that the enforcement will initially involve emails being placed in the junk folder, with bounces being implemented eventually and ramped up over the next few months.
Email marketer from GMass Blog explains that Google and Yahoo's enforcement includes gradually increasing deliverability penalties for non-compliant senders. This will likely start with messages going to the spam folder and eventually lead to outright blocking of emails from unauthenticated senders or those with high spam rates.
Email marketer from Reddit answers that small businesses may see their emails routed to spam or face deliverability issues initially. Senders should monitor feedback loops and postmaster tools to understand how their email is being treated and make adjustments as needed.
Email marketer from SparkPost Blog notes that Yahoo and Google are expected to take a gradual approach, beginning with monitoring and soft bounces. Over time, they will ramp up enforcement with more stringent filtering and potential blocking of non-compliant email.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog responds that Google and Yahoo will initially provide feedback via postmaster tools and deliverability issues. More stringent enforcement, such as filtering and blocking, will follow if senders don't comply with new requirements regarding authentication, spam rates and unsubscribe options.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that Gmail and Yahoo's new requirements will be enforced through a combination of monitoring and deliverability impacts. Senders who fail to meet the authentication, unsubscribe, and spam rate thresholds will likely experience deliverability problems, including messages being routed to spam folders, blocked, or deferred.
Email marketer from Litmus emphasizes that consistent email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is vital, and that Google and Yahoo will use these protocols to identify and penalize unauthenticated mail. Enforcement will likely include deliverability degradation and spam placement for non-compliant senders.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester shares that enforcement by Google and Yahoo will likely start with soft failures like increased spam classification. Over time, repeated violations will lead to stricter measures such as temporary or permanent blocks, and the ultimate penalty is rejection of non-compliant email.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks details the Yahoogle enforcement, explaining there will be deferrals, increasing percentages of rejections, and spam foldering. Notification or 1:1 handholding is unlikely.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that Yahoo and Google's enforcement will mean that senders who are not properly authenticated and/or have high spam rates will likely see a negative impact on their deliverability, with emails being filtered to the spam folder or blocked outright.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Yahoo and Google's enforcement will focus heavily on email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Senders who fail to properly authenticate their email will likely face deliverability issues, including emails being blocked or sent to spam.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Yahoo Help Central specifies that Yahoo's new requirements include authentication, a one-click unsubscribe option, and maintaining a low spam rate. Yahoo will initially start by monitoring traffic. Non-compliant senders risk deliverability issues like delayed delivery or messages being blocked.
Documentation from RFC specifies that SMTP enhanced mail system status codes can be used to provide detailed feedback on why an email was rejected or deferred. While not guaranteed, some systems may use these codes to communicate specific reasons for non-compliance with the new guidelines.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools shares that they will provide senders with data on their spam rate, authentication status, and other key metrics. Senders can use this information to identify and fix issues that may be impacting their deliverability.
Documentation from DMARC.org details that Google and Yahoo's enforcement will strongly favor senders with a DMARC policy in place. This helps ensure that only legitimate email is delivered, reducing the risk of phishing and spoofing attacks.
Documentation from Google Workspace Updates explains that Google will enforce new requirements for bulk email senders to help reduce spam. Senders who don’t authenticate their email, make it easy to unsubscribe, and stay under the spam rate threshold may have their messages either rejected or sent to spam.