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Gmail and Yahoo's DKIM Requirements for 2024: What You Need to Know

As we move into 2024, all business email users must be aware of Gmail and Yahoo's new email authentication requirements.

These changes are designed to protect against spam and improve email deliverability, but they can frustrate genuine email senders when they send legitimate emails to known recipients only to get a strange, undeliverable bounceback message in return. This bounceback is due to the lack of SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) authentication.

These are email validation systems designed to prevent email spoofing by verifying that the email comes from the domain it claims to be from

Here's what you need to know to ensure compliance and maintain effective communication with your email recipients.

Understanding Gmail's Authentication Changes

Gmail's new policies, primarily targeting bulk senders, necessitate the following:

  • Email Authentication: Mandatory use of SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail).
  • DNS Compliance: Valid forward and reverse DNS records are required.
  • TLS Security: Emails must be sent over secure TLS connections.
  • Spam Management: Adherence to specific spam rate thresholds.

Yahoo's Updated Policies

Yahoo, in parallel, requires SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for all bulk email senders, underlining the industry's move towards tighter email security standards.

Immediate Impact on Users

It's not just bulk senders who are affected. Individual users and small businesses are experiencing bouncebacks from Gmail with error messages like:

This mail has been blocked because the sender is unauthenticated.

or

Gmail requires all senders to authenticate with either SPF or DKIM.

Action Steps for Compliance

For Individual Users

  1. Individual users can resolve this issue by setting up SPF and DKIM for their domains. Here's a general guide on how to do it:SPF Setup: Go to your DNS settings (e.g., Namecheap, Cloudflare, Bluehost, etc.) and create a new TXT record. Enter "@" in "Name". Paste "v=spf1 include: _spf.google.com ~all" in "Value" and then save10
  2. DKIM Setup: This process varies depending on your domain provider and email service. Generally, you'll need to generate a DKIM key, add it to your DNS as a TXT record, and then enable DKIM signing in your email service.

Remember to verify your SPF and DKIM records after setup to ensure they work correctly. You can use various online tools for this.

For Bulk Senders

  1. Bulk senders, defined by Google as those who send more than 5,000 messages per day, have additional requirements. They must authenticate their emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
  2. Ensure an easy one-click unsubscribe process and honour unsubscribes within two days.
  3. Keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoid reaching a spam rate of 0.30% or higher.

Failure to meet these standards may result in messages not being delivered to Gmail and Yahoo inboxes.

Gmail and Yahoo's 2024 email authentication requirements are not to be taken lightly. Ensuring compliance is crucial for uninterrupted and secure email communication. If you're facing challenges in adapting to these changes, don't hesitate to seek professional help from your email provider. Alternatively, contact me and as long as I have the required access to your DNS settings, I may be able to help.