Image credits: tech crunch

Google today announced a series of major changes to how it handles email from high-volume senders to reduce spam and other unsolicited email. Starting next year, bulk senders will be required to authenticate their emails, provide an easy way to unsubscribe, and ensure they don’t exceed a reported spam threshold, the company said.

This change affects bulk senders, which Google defines as senders who send more than 5,000 messages per day to a Gmail address. This includes everything from large retailers to big tech companies, even small startups and their B2C companies, or even newsletter writers looking to market their companies through email messaging. This could include virtually any company with a mailing list of any size.

Google already uses AI technology to stop more than 99.9% of spam, phishing, and malware from reaching users’ inboxes, and claims to block 15 billion unsolicited emails per day. There is. But as technology advances, Google’s 20-year-old email system must also be better protected.

First, Gmail will build on a policy we introduced last year that requires emails sent to Gmail addresses to have some form of authentication to verify that the sender is who they say they are. The change was necessary because many bulk senders don’t properly protect and configure their systems, which makes it “easy for attackers to hide inside,” he said. The blog post explains: This has reduced the number of unauthenticated messages that Gmail users receive by 75%, but Google also announced that by February 2024, bulk senders will be required to follow a set of documented best practices for email. We plan to require strong authentication.

Bulk senders should also allow users to unsubscribe with one click, and ensure that unsubscribe requests are processed within two days.

Perhaps more controversially, Google will also require high-volume senders to keep their spam rates below a clear threshold. The company says this is an industry first. This means that bulk senders may lose access to users’ inboxes if a large number of users mark the sender’s emails as spam.

Google announced the changes ahead of the arrival of 2024, but also said it was working with industry partners to develop new policies. Yahoo (which owns TechCrunch) is already working on it.

“Regardless of their email provider, all users deserve the safest and most secure experience possible,” Marcel Becker, Yahoo’s senior director of products, said in a statement. “The interconnected world of email requires all of us to work together. Yahoo is working with Google and the rest of the email community to make these common-sense, high-impact changes the new industry standard. I look forward to doing so,” he added.

Google said many high-volume senders have already met the new requirements and will continue to provide clear guidance before the changes take effect in February 2024.