Every major email provider change since 2024 and how it affects cold email
delivguru · 2026-01-08 · 2,890 views
Summary of every major email provider change since 2024 and what it means for cold email senders.
1. DMARC required for bulk senders. Google and Yahoo now require DMARC for anyone sending over 5,000 emails per day. Even below that threshold, having DMARC significantly improves deliverability.
2. One-click unsubscribe required. Must include a functioning unsubscribe mechanism. List-Unsubscribe header is the cleanest implementation.
3. Spam rate must stay under 0.3%. Google monitors this via Postmaster Tools. If your spam rate exceeds 0.3%, your deliverability tanks across all your sending domains.
4. DKIM alignment enforced more strictly. Your DKIM d= domain must match your From domain. This kills most shared SMTP setups where the DKIM domain is the provider's domain, not yours.
5. OAuth becoming the standard for third-party access. App passwords and direct SMTP credentials are being deprecated in favor of OAuth. Google Workspace inboxes with OAuth setup (like PuzzleInbox provides) are future-proof.
Bottom line: these changes all favor senders who use dedicated infrastructure with proper authentication. If you are still on shared SMTP, these changes will progressively make your life harder.
Comments (3)
tina_infra · 2026-01-12
in order of importance: SPF, DKIM, DMARC. all three must pass and align. SPF authorizes which servers can send from your domain, DKIM cryptographically signs emails, DMARC tells receiving servers what to do when checks fail. you need all three — having only 1 or 2 is not enough
markw_cold · 2026-01-13
also set up a custom tracking domain (CNAME record) if your sending platform supports it. using the platform's default shared tracking domain hurts deliverability because you're sharing reputation with everyone else on that domain
inboxwhisper · 2026-01-14
don't forget MX records. technically you need these for receiving email (bounces, replies) but a domain without MX records looks suspicious to spam filters. also set up a proper rDNS/PTR record if you control your sending IP