A domain can meet the authentication requirements and still have delivery problems. Recipient complaints and unprocessed opt-outs remain separate reasons for providers to restrict mail.
When does Google count you as a bulk sender?
Google counts senders near 5,000 messages to personal Gmail accounts in a 24-hour period as bulk senders.
Its sender FAQ uses that broader boundary. The guidelines describe senders exceeding 5,000 messages per day. Prepare before reaching the boundary rather than relying on an exact cutoff.
Google combines messages from the same primary domain, the registered domain containing its subdomains. Sending 2,500 from example.com and 2,500 from news.example.com produces a combined count of 5,000. Splitting traffic across those names does not avoid the bulk tier.
These requirements cover personal Gmail accounts. They do not apply to messages received by Google Workspace accounts. Your total volume across other mailbox providers does not determine Google's count.
What does Google require of every sender?
Every sender must authenticate mail and meet Google's transport, DNS, formatting and complaint requirements.
SPF checks whether a server is authorized for the envelope sender domain used for delivery-failure notices. DKIM verifies a signature associated with a signing domain. Google requires at least one method to help distinguish authenticated senders from impersonators.
Google also requires:
- Have the sending server's operator configure matching forward and reverse DNS. A PTR record maps the sending IP to its hostname. Gmail can limit or block mail when the lookups disagree.
- Have that operator enable TLS, because encryption protects the email from interception during transmission.
- Format headers and bodies according to RFC 5322, the Internet Message Format specification, so receiving software can parse them.
- Do not impersonate Gmail From addresses, because Gmail can restrict messages that impersonate its domains.
- Keep your spam complaint rate below 0.3 percent, because Gmail can restrict mail from senders exceeding its limit.
The operator of the sending server controls its transport and reverse DNS. Your own domain's authentication records remain a separate part of setup.
What authentication does the bulk tier add?
Bulk senders need both SPF and DKIM alongside DMARC.
DMARC checks that a passing SPF or DKIM domain matches the visible From domain. That match is called alignment. A pass for an unrelated domain does not authorize the visible From address.
A monitoring policy of p=none, which expresses no handling preference for failures, satisfies both providers' policy requirement. Publishing the policy alone does not establish a passing result.
Google requires DKIM keys of at least 1024 bits. A shorter key fails its minimum. Google recommends 2048 bits when supported. Yahoo also specifies the 1024-bit minimum. Longer RSA signing keys reduce the risk of signature compromise, as RFC 8301 explains.
DMARC alignment explains why checks can pass for the wrong domain.
How low should spam complaints stay?
Google recommends keeping complaints below 0.1 percent.
Both providers require spam rates below 0.3 percent.
If 1,000 messages count toward a rate, one complaint produces 0.1 percent. Three complaints produce 0.3 percent, reaching the boundary the providers require you to stay below.
Use each provider's own measurement. Yahoo calculates its rate against mail delivered to the inbox. Your total accepted sending volume is not necessarily the same denominator. Spam complaint rates explains that distinction.
What unsubscribe handling do the providers require?
Marketing and subscribed messages need an easy unsubscribe mechanism and a visible link in the message body. In practice, the body link lets recipients opt out even when their mail client lacks a one-click control.
Google requires one-click unsubscribe using the header-based mechanism in RFC 8058. Yahoo recommends that POST method and also accepts a mailto method in its list-unsubscribe header.
Both require processing opt-outs within two days, so recipients stop receiving mail they have declined. A request received on Monday must be honored by Wednesday at the same time.
Google's Compliance status dashboard checks that processing deadline separately from the headers. A firewall or bot challenge blocking the request does not remove your responsibility to process it.
What else does Yahoo ask you to do?
Yahoo asks forwarders to preserve authentication evidence. It also asks sending domains to enroll in its complaint feedback program.
Yahoo's guidance asks forwarding services to use ARC, which preserves signed records of earlier authentication results. Forwarding can break SPF or DKIM, as RFC 8617 explains.
Yahoo's complaint feedback program returns complaint information for enrolled DKIM domains. Yahoo calls for an active enrollment so senders can process complaints promptly.
How do you check compliance after changing your setup?
Use Google's Compliance status dashboard and Yahoo's complaint feedback to assess the results of your changes.
Google reports Compliant, Needs work or No data found for individual requirements. Its dashboard reports at primary-domain level using data from subdomains too.
Changes can take up to seven days to appear. Rechecking immediately can therefore show the previous configuration's result. Google Postmaster Tools explains the other dashboards.
Use the Bird setup guide to configure your sending domain's records.
In short
Google counts across a primary domain.
Messages from a domain and its subdomains contribute to the same bulk-sender total for personal Gmail accounts.
Bulk authentication needs an aligned pass.
Both providers require SPF, DKIM and DMARC, including a passing result aligned with the visible From domain.
Complaint targets and limits differ.
Google recommends staying below 0.1 percent. Both providers require spam rates below 0.3 percent.
Unsubscribe requests have a processing deadline.
Both providers require processing within two days, separately from providing an unsubscribe mechanism.