How Gmail and Yahoo Are Changing the Email Ecosystem

The following is excerpted from a blog by Spark451, a Jenzabar Company.

Gmail and Yahoo have recently dropped a game-changing announcement that’s set to revolutionize the way we send and receive emails, causing big changes throughout the entire email industry. What were once mere “suggestions” have transformed into mandatory requirements, which began rolling out in February 2024. These updated guidelines represent a change from the industry’s previous stance on email authentication and best practices. In short, all senders will soon be held to a new set of standards, which include maintaining low spam rates, incorporating a one-click email unsubscribe feature on all emails, and ensuring sender authentication.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at who will be impacted by these changes. We’ll also lay out the timeline, providing you with a detailed breakdown of when and how the changes will unfold. We’ll also unravel the specifics of these changes and provide an email to-do list that will ensure your emails are sent without any error or delay.

Expected Impact

The changes are set to make a substantial impact, particularly on marketers and transactional email senders. However, this also includes any bulk email senders, which are email senders or domains that send 5,000 or more daily emails to personal accounts within a 24-hour period.

At Spark451, email communication is one of our main channels for reaching college students, and we’ve observed that most students use Gmail. For example, data from one of our largest university partners showed that 53.6% of students use Gmail. Following that, 8.3% of students used iCloud.

Timeline:

 

February 2024

Failing to meet the new requirements will trigger temporary email errors. To better understand these errors, you can find more information by checking out Google’s Email Sender Guidelines

April 2024

Non-compliance with the requirements will result in the rejection of a small percentage of your recipients. An example from Google: If 75% of your email traffic aligns with their standards, Google will begin rejecting a portion of the remaining 25% that doesn’t meet the compliance criteria, and will gradually increase the amount of rejections over time.

June 2024

One-click unsubscribe requirements will be enforced.

What are the top 3 biggest changes and what can institutions do to reduce spam rate? Get answers to these questions as well as an email to-do list when you read the full article here.

To explore how Jenzabar and Spark451 can help you find, recruit, and enroll more right-fit students, read about our Strategic Enrollment Suite.