Why is my DMARC success rate suddenly dropping, and how does this affect spam rates and blocklists?

Email marketer from Mailerlite says to ensure all email is authenticated with SPF and DKIM. If you use multiple email service providers or send email from different servers, ensure that each one is correctly configured to authenticate email on behalf of your domain. If you are still seeing your DMARC success rate dropping after this you can investigate further.

Email marketer from Proofpoint explains that a potential cause of DMARC failures is forwarded email. Forwarding can break SPF authentication, as the original sender's IP address no longer matches the domain's SPF record. Senders often use SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) to handle forwarding issues, but it's not always implemented correctly.

Email marketer from EasyDMARC states that DMARC failures don't directly cause you to be added to blocklists. Blocklists primarily focus on IP addresses and domain reputation based on spam complaints and sending behavior. However, a sudden increase in DMARC failures can indicate a potential issue with your email security, which, if left unaddressed, could lead to spam complaints and eventually blocklisting.

Email marketer from Postmark states that best practices for DMARC includes setting up SPF and DKIM correctly first, and then implementing DMARC. Start with a 'p=none' policy to monitor your email streams and identify any authentication issues. Once you are confident that all legitimate emails are properly authenticated, gradually move to stricter policies like 'p=quarantine' and finally 'p=reject'.

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that a failing DMARC record doesn't directly cause your emails to go to spam. However, it signals to email providers that your domain might be used for malicious activities. If email providers start seeing your emails failing DMARC consistently, they are more likely to filter them as spam or block them altogether, indirectly affecting deliverability.

Email marketer from GlockApps shares that to fix a dropping DMARC success rate, you should start by analyzing your DMARC reports. These reports provide details about the sources sending emails on behalf of your domain, whether they are passing or failing authentication, and the reasons for the failures. Identifying unauthorized sources or misconfigured authentication is crucial.

Email marketer from ZeroBounce highlights that implementing and maintaining DMARC is essential for protecting your brand reputation. A drop in DMARC success rate could mean that someone is spoofing your domain to send spam, potentially damaging your sender reputation and leading to deliverability issues. Monitoring DMARC reports is crucial for early detection and mitigation.

Email marketer from Sendinblue emphasizes that proper DMARC setup involves creating a DMARC record in your DNS settings and regularly monitoring DMARC reports. If your DMARC success rate is dropping, it is important to check if there are any unauthorized sources are sending emails from your domain. Also make sure all legitimate sources are authenticating correctly.

Expert from Word to the Wise notes that interpreting DMARC reports requires understanding the XML format and the data they contain. The reports highlight the sources sending emails on behalf of your domain and whether they are passing or failing DMARC authentication. Analyzing these reports is essential for identifying and addressing the causes of a sudden drop in the DMARC success rate.

Expert from Spam Resource shares that for DMARC to work effectively, SPF and DKIM need to be properly aligned. This means that the domain used in the 'Mail From' address (for SPF) and the 'd= domain' (for DKIM) must match the domain in the 'From' header of the email. If alignment is broken, emails may fail DMARC checks even if they pass SPF and DKIM individually, contributing to a drop in the DMARC success rate.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that SORBS and SORBS NEW aren't particularly important blocklists. He recommends focusing on the DMARC and spam complaints first and also suggested looking at where the mail that failed DMARC was sent from.

Experts from Email Geeks suggest that the issue may stem from a shared IP address being listed on SORBS, which might be unrelated to DMARC issues. Laura suggests that complaints at Gmail are domain-based, not IP-based. If sales team is sending cold outreach emails, then those emails may not be correctly authenticated for DMARC. She emphasized that DMARC reports will provide the information needed to diagnose the issue, revealing which emails failed DMARC, the sending IP, the SPF domain, and whether SPF/DKIM passed or failed. Steve notes the reports will include info on where mail failing DMARC was sent from.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that the drop in DMARC success rate is likely due to someone sending mail from the domain that isn't correctly authenticated, either by the company itself or by someone forging the domain. She recommends checking DMARC reports for details on failing mail.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a key element of DMARC is the reporting component. This allows the domain owner to receive feedback from mail receivers about messages using their domain name. This feedback is crucial for identifying and addressing authentication issues that contribute to a drop in the DMARC success rate. Without analyzing these reports, diagnosing and resolving the problem becomes difficult.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that a sudden drop in DMARC success rate can be caused by various factors, including changes in email infrastructure, new sending sources not properly configured, or an increase in phishing attempts forging your domain. They recommend reviewing DMARC reports to identify the source of the failures.

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC helps prevent spammers from forging the 'From' address in emails. When DMARC fails, it means that emails are not properly authenticated, potentially leading to increased spam filtering by email providers. While DMARC itself doesn't block emails, the policies you set (none, quarantine, reject) dictate how receiving mail servers should handle unauthenticated emails.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that DMARC reports provide valuable insights into email authentication issues. These reports, typically in XML format, contain data about the source IPs, SPF and DKIM authentication results, and the actions taken by receiving mail servers. Analyzing these reports helps identify potential spoofing attempts and authentication misconfigurations.

Documentation from AuthSMTP describes that Aggregated DMARC reports are generated regularly (usually daily) by ISPs / email providers and sent to the email address specified in your DMARC record. The aggregate reports are an XML format which can be hard to read. There are tools available to ingest and read these reports to provide a better understanding of your email authentication health.

Documentation from RFC 7489 (the DMARC standard) details that DMARC allows domain owners to specify how receiving mail servers should handle emails that fail authentication checks (SPF and DKIM). The 'p=' tag in the DMARC record defines the policy, with options like 'none' (no action), 'quarantine' (mark as suspicious), or 'reject' (block). A sudden drop in DMARC success requires immediate policy evaluation.