Google Just Turned Up Spam Protection: Guidelines for Business

How to move past the spam folder and adapt to Google’s new standards

Despite Gmail’s AI blocking over 99.9% of spam, phishing, and malware — about 15 billion emails daily — Google’s Group Project Manager, Gmail Security & Trust, Neil Kumaran, believes it’s still insufficient, leading to the introduction of new requirements for bulk email senders.

Google’s recent revamp of its spam protection measures is a wake-up call for businesses worldwide as the initiative represents a seismic shift in how email deliverability will function moving forward.

Let’s dive into what this means and outline some strategies for businesses to ensure their messages continue to reach their audience.

The New Email Landscape

Google is enhancing email security by mandating strong authentication for high-volume senders, simplifying the subscription process to a single click with a two-day processing requirement, and establishing a strict spam rate threshold for senders.

Verifying the true origin of an email remains challenging due to outdated and inconsistent systems, reported Google. Because of this, the lack of robust email validation turns into a gaping doorway for fraudsters. And many bulk senders, it seems, leave their digital doors unlocked, inviting trouble.

Highlighting the necessity for a safer ID check, the situation paints a vivid picture: ensuring an email’s true origin is as important as it is overlooked.

Overall, these measures aim to reduce email threats, make unsubscribing more straightforward, and limit spam, respectively, to improve the email experience for users. This means that emails, now more than ever, need to prove their legitimacy and value to bypass Google’s digital gatekeeping.

For businesses, the message is clear: maintain a clean, engaged, and validated email list to avoid the spam folder.

But it’s not just about avoiding the spam folder anymore — it’s about keeping your customers safe and fostering genuine connections with your audience through every email sent.

Steps to Stay Ahead

Along with following Google’s email sender guidelines, businesses should consider the following steps:

• Email List Hygiene: Regular cleaning of your email list with services like SafeToSend® can significantly reduce bounce rates and improve overall deliverability. It’s about quality, not quantity.
• Engagement Tracking: Understand how your audience interacts with your emails. Google’s algorithms favor engagement, so you’ll need to tailor content to increase open rates and interactions. With tools like AtData’s Quality Score, you get to see who’s more likely to engage with your content — it’s like having a secret password with Google’s filters so your emails land where they should.
• Adapt to Authentication Protocols: With Google tightening its grip on email security through mechanisms like DMARC, ensuring your emails are authenticated is a necessity to maintaining a good sender reputation.
• Transparency and Compliance: Clearly state the purpose of your emails and include easy-to-find unsubscribe options. This not only helps in compliance with regulations but also aligns with Google’s user-first approach to email.
• Content is King: Ultimately, the content of your emails is what keeps your audience engaged — make sure it’s relevant, informative, and compelling enough to be read from start to finish. AtData’s Demographic Append help you get to know your audience on a deeper level so you can create emails that not only dodge the spam folder but deliver value in every personalized message.
• Stay a Step Ahead: Plan for the future with tools that allow you to evaluate and mitigate potential fraud risks associated with email lists. Adding AtData’s Risk Score into your email strategy is like having a filter for your guest list — it sifts through your contacts to catch the risky ones before they cause trouble, which not only aligns with Google’s stricter rules but also keeps your lists sharp and secure.

Embracing Email Changes

Google’s move is inherently designed to keep customers safe, and users engaged with the content they really want to see. Ultimately, the new spam requirements are a win-win for everyone — it not only protects your business and improves trust, but it also protects your partners, customers, and anyone who gets your emails.

For businesses, it presents a unique opportunity to refine strategies by prioritizing list hygiene, engagement, and valuable content. Most importantly, it’s a call to elevate quality and focus on building genuine relationships.

Ready to make sure your emails avoid the spam filter while connecting with your audience?
Contact AtData to dive into our suite of solutions.