Google Ramps Up Anti-Spam Measures To Fight Scams

Date: October 04, 2023

Google is introducing more tools to secure user email accounts from unwanted spams and potential scams while ensuring a better user experience.

Spammers have been around since the beginning of the Email world, causing chaos for both consumers and businesses. With Email service providers improving their anti-spam measures, spammers are also getting advanced techniques in place to continue their notorious endeavors. However, Google is looking at new ways to fix this issue and mitigate the spread of spam on its platform.

Google has announced in a blog post new requirements for businesses that send bulk emails. Starting from February 2024, businesses that send more than 5,000 emails per day to Gmail addresses will need to meet a few more compliance requirements. The senders will now need to authenticate their Emails, which spammers often exploit using certain security loopholes. These loopholes not only cross-connect using genuine business accounts but also threaten end consumers.

The process will require either SPF or DKIM authentication for their Email domain, along with following Google’s recommended best practices. One of the critical components of the new best practice rules is setting up a one-click unsubscribe button. From February 2024 onwards, Google will enforce a clear spam threshold to regulate limits to which a business can send bulk messages.

Gmail recipients are often bombarded with unwanted messages that build the frustration of finding the ones that are actually useful to them. This is the leading cause of landing genuine business senders in the spam folder. Google’s Clear Spam Threshold will be an industry-first tool to reduce incoming spam messages.

The company has enlisted external Email platforms as well. It has collaborated with Yahoo, another Email giant that businesses use for bulk emails. Yahoo users will also benefit from this update as the platforms have the largest exchange of Emails between them.

These changes are like a tune-up for the email world, and by fixing a few things under the hood, we can keep email running smoothly,” said Neil Kumaran, Google’s product manager. “But just like a tune-up, this is not a one-time exercise. Keeping email more secure, user friendly, and spam-free requires constant collaboration and vigilance from the entire email community.”

DKIM is the hero tool that most businesses will need to authenticate with, While the ones working with Gmail accounts will automatically get this update integrated, the ones using third-party sources will need to generate a DKIM key to protect their domain from spoof attacks. Spoofing is an advanced technique used by spammers to forge the FROM address of the send inauthentic messages that look genuine. DKIM captures such changes and prevents them from reducing the reputation of genuine business domains, without which most of the authentic Emails also land in the spam folder.

Another tool users can implement is SPF, which works similarly to DKIM. Without DKIM or SPF, the original emails will not be sent anymore and will come back with an Error 5.7.26 message.

Bulk senders must also follow the latest best practices listed by Google. Email administrators, senders, and users will have to ensure the best practices, especially while sending mail to Gmail accounts from an external source.