Bulk sender requirements (Gmail and Yahoo)

In February 2024, Google and Yahoo started to enforce rules for bulk senders. Google counts a bulk sender as anyone who sends more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail addresses, and once you are counted as bulk, you stay in that group. All senders must have SPF or DKIM, a valid reverse DNS record and TLS. Bulk senders need SPF, DKIM and DMARC that match the From domain.

Bulk marketing mail must also support one-click unsubscribe, and the sender must act on requests within two days. The spam complaint rate must stay below 0.3 percent, and Google advises to aim well under 0.1 percent. Microsoft announced similar rules for Outlook.com in 2025.

Cold email is not exempt. Even if you stay under 5,000 a day, the same signals decide your inbox placement, so treat the rules as your minimum. Set up authentication on every sending domain, add the unsubscribe headers, watch the complaint rate in Google Postmaster Tools, and keep volume modest.