Google is making it harder for bulk senders to fill your Gmail with spam

Google is preparing to enforce new Gmail requirements that aim to reduce spam, improve email security, and make it easier to unsubscribe from commercial email senders. The new requirements will be imposed on bulk senders — defined as those who send over 5,000 messages to Gmail accounts each day — by February 2024.

As part of the requirements, Google will begin enforcing a clear spam rate threshold for bulk email senders to prevent them from bombarding Gmail users with unwanted messages. Gmail’s existing bulk sender rules advise senders to keep their spam output below 0.3 percent, but this is currently worded as a recommendation. Google says the change should result in less spam clogging your inbox.

Bulk senders will also be required to provide Gmail recipients with the ability to unsubscribe from commercial emails with a single click to make it easier to stop receiving unwanted messages. Requests to unsubscribe from such emails must then be processed within two days.

Lastly, Google also says that bulk email senders will be required to “strongly authenticate” their emails by following Google’s best practices. The company claims this will close existing loopholes used by attackers, making the source of your emails more secure and trustworthy.

“Many bulk senders don’t appropriately secure and configure their systems, allowing attackers to easily hide in their midst,” said Neil Kumaran, group product manager for Gmail security and trust, in a blog post. “To help fix that, we’ve focused on a crucial aspect of email security: the validation that a sender is who they claim to be.”

Google has explored other means to improve security for Gmail users in recent months. In August, the company announced it would begin adding extra verification steps for tasks like adding a forwarding address and editing filters, and in May, it began expanding its “dark web report” feature, which checks if your email address has been published on the dark web.