Gmail & Yahoo Sender Requirements

In late 2023, Google and Yahoo announced new sender requirements that took effect in February 2024. These requirements apply to anyone sending email to Gmail or Yahoo mailboxes — which is effectively everyone.

Key Requirements

1. Email Authentication

All senders must authenticate email using SPF or DKIM. Bulk senders (5,000+ messages/day to Gmail) must also have a DMARC policy published and pass DMARC alignment.

2. Easy Unsubscribe

Marketing and subscription messages must include a one-click unsubscribe mechanism using the List-Unsubscribe header. Unsubscribe requests must be processed within two days.

3. Low Spam Rates

Senders must maintain a spam complaint rate below 0.3% as measured by Google Postmaster Tools. Exceeding this threshold can result in delivery throttling or blocking.

4. Valid DNS Records

Sending IPs must have valid forward and reverse DNS (PTR) records. Shared IPs must not be on major blocklists.

What This Means for You

If you haven't set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for your domain, your email may start being rejected or sent to spam. Even if you have these records, you need to verify that every third-party service sending as your domain is properly authenticated and aligned.

Safer Sender helps you identify all senders using your domain, check their authentication status, and fix issues before they affect deliverability.