New compliance requirements from email providers
New compliance requirements set by Google and Yahoo will take effect from 1 February 2024.
These changes could cause disruption to your email delivery and the potential marking of your emails as spam if you are not compliant with the standards. Most of these are existing standards which we already recommend but Google and Yahoo are raising the bar; applying stricter filters to improve their spam and spoofed email prevention.
Who is impacted?
These guidelines will affect all domains sending emails to Gmail or Yahoo accounts who are currently non-compliant with the required standards. In particular, high-volume senders (at the moment it is 5,000 emails per day) to Google or Yahoo accounts will be subjected to stricter rules.
Quick compliance checklist
Email authentication
Confirm SPF and DKIM are set for your domain.
DMARC policy
We advise you to implement a DMARC policy. Ensure DMARC alignment, especially if you're a high-volume sender.
TLS security
You must use a TLS connection for transmitting email.
Best practices
Adhere to RFC standards, maintain valid PTR records (reverse DNS) for sending domains or IPs, provide clear one-click unsubscribe option.
Use Mail Check to take action
- Anti-spoofing: Review your SPF, DKIM and DMARC configuration (including domain alignment) and see if your emails are trusted using DMARC reporting and DMARC insights using Mail Check.
- Email privacy: Review TLS configurations for your domain. Mail Check assesses inbound TLS to the mail servers listed in your MX record. Ask your email provider about outbound TLS or use other suitable online tools.
- Reverse DNS: Look for ‘Suspicious emails failing reverse DNS checks' under ‘DMARC reporting’ in Mail Check. You can also find this information (where applicable) under 'DMARC insights’. Additionally, you can check with online DNS PTR lookup tool of your choice.
Resource centre
For detailed step-by-step configuration guides and email traffic analysis, visit our guidance on Email security and anti-spoofing and How to analyse your email traffic.
Additional guidance
For aspects of Google and Yahoo's guidelines not covered by Mail Check, consult your email provider(s) or refer to relevant online resources.
Stay ahead
With evolving rules from Google, Yahoo, and potentially other providers, adhering to universal best practices in email security is more important than ever.
Don't wait — act by 1 February to avoid potential disruptions, or your emails being marked by these providers as spam.
What should I do if I have any questions?
Get in touch using the 'Contact us' link on MyNCSC.