Email Marketing Companies Must Adjust to Changes by February 1st.

DALLAS, Texas, February 9, 2024 – Google and Yahoo have joined forces to combat spam, spoofing, and phishing attacks by enforcing email guidelines effective February 1^st, 2024.

The guidelines target organizations sending 5,000 or more emails per day. However, even those sending fewer emails can benefit from adhering to these defined best practices. Email senders who don’t abide by the requirements will have their emails delivered to spam folders rather than inboxes.

COMPLYING WITH EMAIL MARKETING REGULATIONS

In order to comply with the newly enforced regulations, email senders must follow these steps:

1. Authenticate email domain using DKIM, SPF, and DMARC.
2. Provide a one-click unsubscribe option and honor any unsubscribe requests within two days.
3. Maintain a spam rate of less than 0.3%.

Adhering to these requirements not only creates a safer, better experience for the recipients, but also creates more trust for senders who abide by the rules.

“Compliance is key with email. Understanding the laws can be daunting, but a business must be compliant,” David Rickenbacher, the founder of DataMasters, said in a statement regarding the regulations.

AUTHENTICATION

To authenticate emails, senders must implement Sender Policy Framework (SPF) which will specify what IP addresses are able to send emails from a domain. This step helps prevent spoofing attacks. A spoofing attack takes place when an entity disguises its email to appear as though the email is coming from a domain that does not belong to them.

The second protocol meant to authenticate emails is DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). This uses cryptographic signatures which validate the identity of the domain.

The third protocol is Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). DMARC aligns the previous two protocols, SPF and DKIM, while providing instructions on how to handle emails that fail authentication. Unauthenticated emails will then either be marked as spam, quarantined, or rejected.

Most email marketing platforms provide specific information on how to set up these protocols in order to be compliant.

ONE-CLICK UNSUBSCRIBE

Google and Yahoo alike believe their users should have a quick and easy way to unsubscribe from marketing emails – using only one click. Yahoo has been promoting the one-click unsubscribe for a while, but few organizations follow the regulation. This is part of the reason that the two-tech giants are enforcing the regulations beginning February 1, 2024.

MINIMIZE SPAM RATE 

High spam rates indicate that the recipients are unhappy receiving emails from that specific sender. An ideal spam rate is 0.1% or lower. However, Google’s threshold is 0.3%, giving senders slightly more leeway.

COMPLIANCE CONTRIBUTES TO SUCCESS

DataMasters, a database and mailing list provider, firmly believes in staying in compliance with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations. All information provided through DataMasters has been collected in full accordance with the law. The email list provider also urges all clients to comply with regulations.

“Compliance is one key component of an effective email marketing strategy,” said Rickenbacher. “When you marry compliance with up-to-date data and quality marketing materials you create a solid foundation of trust. That trust plays a big role in the success of email marketing.

About DataMasters

DataMasters provides custom mailing lists to businesses of all sizes across the country. Clients can opt to filter lists down to fit the profile of their target customers. This allows them to reach their potential customers in an efficient way to maximize ROI.

Source: https://thenewsfront.com/yahoo-and-google-to-enforce-new-email-marketing-rules/