What does a sudden drop in SPF records in Gmail Postmaster Tools mean?

Marketer from Email Geeks answers explaining that data lag seems to be the explanation.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the issue is that GPT starts displaying yesterday's date, without having the data yet, and this is seen in several accounts, different ESPs as just noise again.

Marketer from Email Geeks responds stating that this is a GPT issue, and that lots of folks are reporting it.

Email marketer from SendGrid Blog explains that the decrease in SPF alignment can be caused by email forwarding, where the original SPF record doesn't match the forwarder's domain. He suggests considering SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) to fix this.

Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog (now Litmus) responds that a reduction in SPF pass rates might stem from changes made by third-party vendors or ESPs; confirming and aligning your email authentication strategy with those changes is critical to maintain optimal deliverability.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that a sudden drop in SPF records reported by Gmail Postmaster Tools can often indicate a misconfiguration or change in your SPF record. It's crucial to verify your SPF record to ensure all legitimate sending sources are included.

Email marketer from MXToolbox Blog mentions that monitoring your SPF records regularly using tools available on MXToolbox can help you detect issues early and prevent significant drops in your email deliverability due to SPF failures.

Marketer from Email Geeks answers stating that it is a false positive on the Google side.

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog responds that a drop could be the result of a phishing attack where someone is spoofing your domain. In this case, you should setup more stringent DMARC policies.

Email marketer from StackExchange shares that a sudden drop can also be due to changes Google makes in how they process SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. However you should investigate this first to ensure you have no misconfigurations before blaming external forces.

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares that issues with SPF records reported in Gmail Postmaster Tools can stem from exceeding the DNS lookup limit. He advises to flatten the SPF record to stay within the limit.

Marketer from Email Geeks responds confirming the issue is still happening.

Email marketer from ReturnPath Blog (now Validity) shares that inconsistent SPF record implementations can cause temporary drops in recognition, and advises regularly testing and updating your SPF records with all valid senders to avoid deliverability issues.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum responds stating a drop in SPF records could mean a new sending source isn't authenticated or an existing one is failing authentication. It could also mean a third party is sending emails on your behalf.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that a sudden drop in SPF pass rates can indicate a problem with your sending infrastructure, potentially due to unauthorized use of your domain to send spam which would cause SPF failures.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that sudden changes in SPF results within Gmail Postmaster Tools could be due to aggressive filtering practices, particularly if Gmail detects unexpected shifts in the source of your email traffic, requiring a thorough examination of your sending practices.

Documentation from Google Support explains that a decrease in SPF pass rate, as seen in Postmaster Tools, typically suggests that a larger percentage of your email is failing SPF checks, and to check your authentication setup and DNS records.

Documentation from DMARC.org answers that a sudden drop might also indicate an issue with DMARC alignment if SPF is used as the primary authentication method. Without proper alignment, messages may fail DMARC checks even with a passing SPF result.

Documentation from Microsoft Docs explains the importance of routinely auditing your SPF records, specifically when a drop is detected, to ensure your authorized sending IPs are correctly listed. If not, legitimate emails may fail authentication.

Documentation from RFC Editor explains that a sudden SPF drop may indicate that your domain is being spoofed by malicious senders who are not authorized to send on your behalf and whose emails are failing the SPF check.

Documentation from Valimail explains that a sudden decrease in SPF pass rate can signify an urgent need for an email authentication audit to identify potential gaps in your strategy, and ensure compliance with email standards to prevent spoofing and phishing.