Big Changes to Email Rules happened in 2024 – Here’s What You Need to Know
If you’re an online business owner, you’ve probably seen chatter about some major email rule changes which took effect February 2024. If you’ve been using Gmail or Yahoo to send emails to your customers, these updates are going to affect you.
Google and Yahoo announced these changes back in October 2023, tightening up their rules for bulk email senders. If you don’t follow the new guidelines, your emails might not even make it to inboxes – and that’s a problem.
No need to panic, but if you have not made these changes, you need to move now. Email marketing is one of the best ways to connect with your audience, so let’s break down what’s happening and what you need to do.
Why the Change?
Spam has always been a headache, and companies like Google and Yahoo are constantly fighting it off to keep their users happy. If people get too annoyed with spam, they might switch to a different email service that does a better job at filtering it.
That’s why, starting in February, anyone sending 5,000 or more emails per day to Gmail accounts must authenticate their emails. This isn’t just about spam – it’s also about blocking malicious scams like phishing and spoofing emails.
But here’s the good news: these changes help protect your brand, too. They make it harder for scammers to impersonate you and send shady emails pretending to be from your company.
What Do Email Marketers Need to Do?
To keep your emails landing in inboxes, you’ll need to authenticate your email domain. This might sound technical (and a little overwhelming), but don’t worry – it’s doable.
Here are the main rules:
- Use an authenticated email domain. No more sending business emails from a basic Gmail account like yourbusiness@gmail.com. Instead, you need to send from a custom domain, like you@yourdomain.com.
- Stop sending emails to people who didn’t ask for them. Unsolicited emails are a no-go. Cold emailing (especially B2B) won’t be affected much, but you still need to follow spam guidelines.
- Make it easy to unsubscribe. Your emails need to have a one-click unsubscribe button. People shouldn’t have to jump through hoops just to stop receiving emails from you.
- Follow the bulk sender guidelines. Whether you send fewer than 5,000 emails per day or more, you’ll need to authenticate your domain by setting up SPF or DKIM.
What’s SPF, DKIM, and DMARC (and Why Should You Care)?
These sound like complicated acronyms, but they’re just security steps to verify that your emails are legit. Let’s break it down:
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework) – Stops spammers from pretending to send emails on your behalf. You’ll need to publish an SPF record in your domain’s settings listing all approved email senders.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) – Ensures your emails aren’t tampered with before they reach the recipient.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) – Adds an extra layer of protection by checking both SPF and DKIM and deciding what happens if an email fails authentication.
Setting these up can take a little time, but they help keep your emails from getting flagged as spam – and protect your brand reputation.
Note – if you use an email service provider like AWeber, they make it relatively easy to make these changes!
Other Email Marketing Best Practices
Aside from authentication, here are some things you should keep in mind:
✅ Avoid Sudden Email Volume Spikes. If you go from sending 10 emails to 50,000 overnight, it’s a red flag. Build up gradually.
✅ Stay Consistent. Don’t ghost your email list and then suddenly bombard them with messages. A steady schedule keeps engagement high.
✅ Monitor Your Email Reputation. If you’re using a shared IP to send emails, make sure others on the same IP aren’t getting marked as spam. You can use tools like Google’s Postmaster Tools to check.
✅ Format Emails Correctly. Follow proper HTML and Internet Format Standards. Your links should be clear and not deceptive.
✅ Enable BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification). This adds your brand’s logo to authenticated emails, making it easier for customers to recognize your messages.
Final Thoughts
Yes, these changes might feel like a hassle at first, but they’re actually a good thing. They’ll help reduce spam, protect your business, and make sure your emails reach the people who actually want them.
So, if you haven’t already, now’s the time to authenticate your email domain and update your email marketing practices. A little effort now will save you a ton of headaches later!
Need help setting this up? Check out your domain provider’s guide on adding SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records – or use an email service provider that handles authentication for you.
Happy emailing!
