To ensure higher protection for email account users from spam and unwanted communication, Gmail and other email vendors in 2023 announced a series of compliance changes to take effect in February 2024. The changes apply to bulk senders - those sending >5000 messages/ day to Gmail email addresses - and include heightened checks for:
DMARC policy implementation
Easy unsubscribe (one-click/ list)
Spam rate maintained at <0.3%
Bluecore anticipates the vast majority of email senders will already be in compliance with these changes.
WHAT IS DMARC?
DMARC - Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance - is an email authentication policy and reporting protocol, managed by the independent DMARC organization, which includes policies on authenticating the ‘From’ domain name, failure handling, and reporting. This is included in the domain’s DNS (Domain Name Server).
Email servers, including Gmail, do a ‘DMARC check’, via SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). Bluecore authenticates senders’ emails with SPF and DKIM today to ensure compliance.
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
Specifically, clients must now ensure that each email sub-domain has a separate DMARC policy implementation. Clients have already received communication from Bluecore on whether their accounts appear to include the policy or not. Clients at a minimum should have a DMARC policy setting of p=NONE.
NOTE: Not having a DMARC policy set after February 2024 could result in significant negative impacts on email deliverability, as Gmail and other email servers will treat the email messages as unauthenticated.
Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) for further information on ensuring DMARC compliance in Bluecore and deliverability best practices.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Am I compliant with Gmail's one-click unsubscribe requirement?
A: All Bluecore emails, by default, are in compliance. Bluecore inserts code in the email header which surfaces the Unsubscribe link that appears at the top of Gmail emails, next to the sender's email address. If a shopper unsubscribes via this link, their unsubscribe reason will be recorded as
list-unsubscribe-headerwithin Bluecore.