{
  "name": "Gmail bulk sender requirements 2025",
  "updatedAt": "2025-11-01",
  "entries": [
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "SPF",
      "detail": "Authorizes servers to send on behalf of the domain",
      "impact": "Rejected if missing or misaligned"
    },
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "DKIM",
      "detail": "Cryptographic signature of the content",
      "impact": "Rejected if the signature is absent"
    },
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "DMARC",
      "detail": "Policy applied when SPF or DKIM fail",
      "impact": "At least p=none is mandatory"
    },
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "TLS",
      "detail": "Encrypted transport channel for SMTP",
      "impact": "Messages blocked if TLS is unavailable"
    },
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "Unsubscribe link",
      "detail": "1-click `List-Unsubscribe` header",
      "impact": "Mandatory for campaign flows"
    },
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "Complaint rate",
      "detail": "Must stay below 0.3% via Postmaster Tools",
      "impact": "Higher rates degrade sender reputation"
    },
    {
      "category": "Baseline",
      "requirement": "Reverse DNS (PTR)",
      "detail": "Sending IP needs a valid PTR",
      "impact": "Automatically verified by Gmail"
    },
    {
      "category": "Bulk senders",
      "requirement": "Strict DMARC enforcement",
      "detail": "Bulk traffic must comply with a validated DMARC policy",
      "impact": "Non-compliant traffic receives 4xx rejects"
    },
    {
      "category": "Bulk senders",
      "requirement": "Aligned From domain",
      "detail": "`From:` must align with SPF or DKIM domains",
      "impact": "Misaligned flows are blocked"
    },
    {
      "category": "Bulk senders",
      "requirement": "Spam-rate tracking",
      "detail": "Monitoring per subdomain",
      "impact": "Persistent spikes trigger throttling"
    },
    {
      "category": "Bulk senders",
      "requirement": "One-click unsubscribe",
      "detail": "Mandatory user-facing opt-out",
      "impact": "Missing links lead to temporary blocks"
    },
    {
      "category": "Standard senders",
      "requirement": "DMARC recommended",
      "detail": "Publish DMARC even under 5k emails/day",
      "impact": "No strict enforcement but expected"
    },
    {
      "category": "Standard senders",
      "requirement": "TLS and PTR checks",
      "detail": "Gmail validates encrypted transport and PTR records",
      "impact": "Misconfigurations can delay deliveries"
    },
    {
      "category": "Standard senders",
      "requirement": "Postmaster monitoring",
      "detail": "Use Google Postmaster Tools to watch health",
      "impact": "Surfacing reputation issues earlier"
    }
  ]
}