As we welcomed the new year, email marketers received news of major ISPs such as Google and Yahoo implementing strict measures. These measures aimed to ensure that marketers adhere to all necessary configurations while also providing users with simple methods to opt out of email lists. However, marketers found themselves needing to manually verify their compliance, as discussed in our previous blog. Thankfully, Google has introduced the “Google Compliance Dashboard” to aid marketers in assessing their adherence to these regulations.

Previously, Google’s Postmaster Tools provided information allowing users to monitor various metrics such as domain reputation, IP reputation, spam rates, delivery errors, and feedback loops. Now, the new compliance dashboard offers a comprehensive view of how well your emails align with the latest guidelines.

To access the dashboard, simply visit the this link and select your domain to view the information.

Compliance Dashboard Overview

Here’s an overview of the key compliance areas covered within the platform:

SPF & DKIM Authentication: Get detailed insights into your authentication setup. If your organization uses more than one domain and uses more than one DKIM key or SPF record, this dashboard might show no authentication for your domains that don’t send email.

From: Header Alignment: Check “Delivery Errors” in Postmaster Tools for insights into email formatting issues. To correct message formatting issues, check message rejection errors that mention bad format, for example 550 5.7.1 errors.

DMARC Authentication: The dashboard doesn’t directly show DMARC configuration. Use a dedicated DMARC tool to verify your setup. Implementing DMARC with a minimal enforcement policy (p=none, pct=0) is highly recommended.

Encryption: Monitor the percentage of your email traffic encrypted with TLS (Inbound and Outbound) through the “Encryption” dashboard.

User-Reported Spam Rate: Keep an eye on your spam rate using the “Spam Rate” dashboard. Aim to maintain this rate below 0.3% for optimal deliverability.

DNS Records: Verify your domain’s A and PTR records using a third-party DNS record tool.

Additionally, the dashboard promises upcoming enhancements, including:

One-Click Unsubscribe: Expected to monitor if marketers provide an unsubscribe link for users to easily opt out of emails.

Honor Unsubscribe: Anticipated to monitor if emails continue to be sent to users after they have unsubscribed from mailers sent from selected domains.

If your compliance is satisfactory, the dashboard will appear as follows:

However, if any issues arise with the provided values, the dashboard will indicate as follows:

In summary, Google’s Compliance Dashboard emerges as an indispensable tool, centralizing compliance-related settings for marketers, easing the burden of adherence to evolving standards. While the updated requirements took effect on February 1, 2024, Google has extended a grace period until April 2024 before rejecting non-compliant mail. Should you require assistance in navigating these requirements, our dedicated Expert Services team stands ready to support you every step of the way.