In 2024, Gmail will implement stricter guidelines to prevent spam in users' inboxes
To reduce spam and other unwanted emails, Google today announced a number of important changes to how it handles email from bulk senders. According to the business, bulk senders will have to verify their emails, provide a simple method for subscribers to unsubscribe, and stay under a reported spam threshold starting in 2019.
Any bulk sender, which Google describes as someone who sends more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in a single day, will be impacted by the changes. This may include almost any company with a sizable mailing list, from major merchants to major IT firms to even smaller startups and B2C businesses or newsletter authors wishing to promote themselves via email.
Google asserts that it already employs AI technology to prevent 15 billion unwanted emails daily and more than 99.9% of spam, phishing, and malware before they reach consumers' inboxes. However, Google's defenses for its now 20-year-old email system must advance along with technology.
Gmail will begin by expanding on a rule it set forward last year that calls for emails sent to Gmail addresses to include some kind of authentication to confirm that the sender is who they say they are. This modification was required due to the fact that many bulk senders' systems are not adequately secured and configured, which enables an attacker to "easily hide in their midst," according to a Google blog post. While this cut down on unauthenticated messages received by Gmail users by 75%, Google will now demand bulk senders to strongly verify their emails in accordance with a set of published best practices by February 2024.
Additionally, bulk senders will have to allow customers to unsubscribe with a simple click and process those requests within two days.
Google will also mandate that bulk senders maintain clear spam rate thresholds, which the company believes is an industry first. This requirement is perhaps even more contentious. This implies that a mass sender could lose access to users' inboxes if enough people designate their emails as spam.
Google notes that while it is announcing the changes now, it is also collaborating with business partners to implement them beginning in 2024. TechCrunch's owner, Yahoo, is already on board.
The safest, most secure experience should be available to all users, regardless of their email provider, according to Marcel Becker, senior director of product at Yahoo. That requires teamwork from all of us in the connected world of email. In order to establish these sensible, significant changes as the new industry norm, Yahoo is eager to collaborate with Google and the rest of the email community, he continued.
The changes are set to take effect in February 2024, although Google highlighted that many mass senders currently comply with the new specifications. Until then, it will continue to provide explicit instructions.