If your organization does any amount of email marketing, you may have heard there's something big happening with Google Accounts on Dec 1st.
Here's the skinny in under 2 minutes
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH GOOGLE DEC 1ST?
It's the great Google purge, and it all goes down the day after tomorrow. All Google accounts that have been inactive for 2 years or more will be deleted from the cloud. That includes Gmail, Photos, Drive, Docs — the whole suite.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY EMAIL MARKETING?
Email marketers with older Gmail addresses on their lists may see a significant increase in email bounces starting December 1st. That could mean a big hit to your sender score...(read: MORE SPAM FOLDER, LESS INBOX).
CAN I GET AHEAD OF IT?
Absolutely — it's not too late. Before your next big send,
review your lists for low open rates
identify emails that haven't been engaging for an extended period (has not opened an email in X months or has not opened any of the last X campaigns)
archive those contacts from your active database.
That's it. Bounces avoided.
And if you need help, just let me know.
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO ME?
It's part of a larger initiative by Google to protect against fake and compromised accounts. It's also a first step towards forcing email marketers to take better care of the lists and avoid spammy email practices — with additional updates coming in February 2024.
WOAH, BACK UP — WHAT'S HAPPENING IN FEBRUARY 2024?
That's when Google is taking its war on spam to the next level! All bulk senders will need to:
authenticate their email/sending domain
include a one-click unsubscribe link in their emails
keep their spam complaint rate below 0.1% - exceeding 0.1% over time will result in a rather sticky spam classification, as will exceeding 0.3% on a given blast.
This may seem a little technical, but it's not a huge lift — as long as you address it before the change happens. Otherwise, you may find yourself on the wrong side of Gmail's inbox.
And if you need any guidance or an extra set of hands, I'm here to help: just let me know.