Gmail Sets New Security Rules for Bulk Email Senders

Gmail is enhancing its security protocols to combat increasingly complex email threats. Google’s email service, which blocks nearly 15 billion unwanted emails daily, is introducing new requirements for bulk senders—those who send over 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in a single day.

Google zeroing in on email validation to ensure that senders are who they claim to be. Last year, the company mandated that all emails sent to Gmail addresses must be authenticated. This move led to a 75% reduction in unauthenticated messages received by Gmail users.

“Last year we started requiring that emails sent to a Gmail address must have some form of authentication,” said Google on Tuesday.

Starting February 2024, Gmail will enforce the following requirements for bulk senders:

• Authenticate their email: Senders must strongly authenticate their emails following industry best practices.
• Enable easy unsubscription: Senders must allow Gmail users to unsubscribe from commercial emails with a single click and process these requests within two days.
• Ensure wanted email: Gmail will enforce a clear spam rate threshold that senders must adhere to.

Gmail is not alone in pushing for these changes; industry partners like Yahoo also advocate for them. The new requirements are built on open standards, benefiting the entire email community. Gmail will provide clear guidance to those who need to improve their systems before the enforcement begins in February 2024.

Today Gmail also announced emoji reactions are soon coming to the email service as well.