Why does Google Postmaster Tools show DMARC success after record deletion, and how reliable is its data?

Marketer from Email Geeks asks if it's possible that "100% success" was simply the mail passing DMARC authentication, regardless of having the DMARC record in place.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains mailbox providers definitely cache DNS records beyond your TTLs and that this happens in a lot of places if you have short TTLs.

Email marketer from Proofpoint explains that DMARC helps ensure that legitimate email is properly authenticated against established industry standards (SPF and DKIM) and that unauthenticated messages are blocked. It provides a mechanism for email senders to indicate that their messages are protected by authentication, and tells recipients what to do if authentication fails.

Email marketer from Valimail explains that DMARC reports are an essential part of an email authentication strategy. Monitoring and analyzing your DMARC reports helps you understand who is sending email on behalf of your domain, and take action to stop unauthorized use.

Email marketer from SendGrid explains that DMARC is a system designed to protect email senders and recipients from spam, spoofing, and phishing attacks, by allowing senders to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and DKIM, and giving instructions to receivers if neither of those authentication methods passes.

Email marketer from Neil Patel highlights that while Google Postmaster Tools provides insights, it's essential to verify its data with other monitoring tools. DMARC success reporting inconsistencies might arise from the time it takes for DNS changes to propagate across the internet.

Email marketer from EmailSecurityForum.net suggests that Google might cache DNS records, causing a delay in reflecting the deletion of the DMARC record. Check your DNS settings and allow sufficient time for propagation.

Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that DNS propagation delays are a key factor. It can take up to 48 hours (or more in some cases) for DNS changes to reflect globally. The user recommends patience and continued monitoring.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that Google Postmaster Tools should not be the only source used for DMARC monitoring as it provides an incomplete picture. Delays in reflecting changes, such as record deletion, can lead to inaccurate 'success' reports. Regular, comprehensive monitoring is essential.

Email marketer from Reddit (r/emailmarketing) shares that Google Postmaster Tools' DMARC success indication might lag due to caching or internal processing. They suggest confirming DMARC setup using online tools and checking with your ESP.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests if Google is showing non-compliance, send mail to aboutmy.email - that will tell you if it's implemented correctly and if it's working and if not, will give you hints as to what's not right.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that DMARC is an opt-in system. It can only fail if you’ve opted-in to using it, and you do that by publishing a DMARC record.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests there might also be some local caching going on. The record was deleted from DNS, but Google only checks it monthly or whatever. So they may have reported failures as soon as the record fell out.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that issues with DMARC implementation often stem from a lack of understanding about its interaction with SPF and DKIM. She discusses the complexities of DNS and how this can lead to reporting discrepancies and the need for careful configuration to ensure accurate reporting and policy enforcement.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that GPT really seems to be a way of presenting a simplified version of the data Google are collecting for their own uses, rather than something that’s designed to present useful data to senders.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that it's important to monitor your SPF and DKIM alignment as it's important to your DMARC setup. Setting up DMARC reports will also provide vital data, because mail can be delivered with a DMARC pass (especially at Gmail) that doesn't mean it will be delivered in the inbox.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that DNS propagation can take time. Microsoft says that it may take a while for changes to DNS settings to fully propagate across the internet. The exact time depends on the Time-To-Live (TTL) value set for DNS records.

Documentation from RFC Editor (RFC 7489) describes that DMARC relies on the DNS infrastructure and the proper propagation of DNS records. It acknowledges that caching and other DNS-related factors can introduce delays in the reflection of policy changes.

Documentation from Google explains that Google Postmaster Tools provides data about your sending reputation, but it primarily reflects data from Gmail users. It may not immediately reflect changes in DMARC records due to caching or internal processing delays.

Documentation from DMARC.org clarifies that DMARC relies on DNS records, and changes to these records may not be immediately recognized by all systems due to DNS caching. This can lead to discrepancies in reporting until the updated records are universally propagated.

Documentation from Cloudflare says DNS Propagation refers to the process of updating DNS records across the Internet. When a DNS record is changed, such as a new hostname pointing to a different IP address, this update needs to spread across the global DNS server network. Propagation is not instantaneous.