Back in October 2023, Google released its revamped version ofemail-sending policies, which mandated bulk tin nhắn senders đồ sộ comply with the new authentication standards by February 2024. Cut đồ sộ today: Google has now officially started rolling out these updated policies, and some organizations are receiving the following error message while sending emails:
“gmail-smtp-in.l.google.COM: 550-5.7.26 This mail has been blocked because the sender is unauthenticated.”
Have you been facing the same issue? The reason you’re receiving this message is that your domain isn’t properly authenticated. According đồ sộ the updated policy by Google, if your organization sends out more than thở 5,000 emails per day, it must be authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Let’s decode this error message and learn how we can fix it đồ sộ ensure a seamless and efficient tin nhắn delivery.
What Does the “550 5.7.26 This Mail is Unauthenticated” Error Mean?
If your emails are being blocked by Gmail and you’re receiving an error message that says “550 5.7.26 This Mail is Unauthenticated,” it is a clear sign that your tên miền isn’t authenticated as per Google’s latest updates.
As you know, the new policy updates require you đồ sộ authenticate your outgoing emails; when you send out an tin nhắn, Gmail checks if and how well your tin nhắn tên miền is authenticated. If Gmail finds that your tin nhắn lacks proper authentication, it will block the email đồ sộ protect recipients from potential spam and phishing attacks.
Apart from this, there are other reasons why this error message might appear when you send emails. However, it is important đồ sộ understand that these reasons might differ according đồ sộ your email-sending practices. Let us take a look at them:
If You Send Less Than 5,000 Emails Per Day
- Your email-sending tên miền is not authenticated with either SPF or DKIM
- Your tin nhắn spam rate is above 0.3%
- Your Gmail From: headers are being impersonated
- You’re not utilizing a TLS connection for sending emails
- Your tên miền does not have the Authenticated Received Chain (ARC) enabled for forwarded emails
- There are errors in your forward and reverse DNS records
If You Send More Than 5,000 Emails Per Day
- You bởi not have SPF and DKIM implemented for your domain
- Your tên miền is not authenticated with DMARC
- Your sender mimics Gmail From: headers
- You are not using a TLS connection đồ sộ transmit emails
- ARC is not enabled for forwarded messages
- Your forward and reverse DNS records are invalid
- You bởi not offer easy unsubscribe from your marketing messages đồ sộ your recipients
Other Reasons Why You Are Receiving the Error Message
- Your messages include spammy or inappropriate content
- You have a poor sender reputation among recipients— your emails have been reported by them
- Your domain/IP has been blocklisted
- You’re sending emails đồ sộ the wrong target audience; that is, these emails don’t align with their interests and over up falling into the spam folders
How Do You Know if Gmail is Blocking Your Emails?
You might be crafting the most immaculate emails for your audience, but if your tên miền does not comply with Google’s new email-sending policies, all your tin nhắn marketing efforts might go in vain. Before addressing this issue, let’s first understand how đồ sộ determine if Gmail is blocking your emails.
The first and the most obvious sign that your emails are being rejected by Gmail is receiving bounce-back messages with error code 550-5.7.26. You might also notice a sudden drop in the engagement rates of your emails. That is đồ sộ say, they are not being as well received by the recipients or are being filtered into spam folders instead of reaching the inboxes.
How đồ sộ Fix the “550 5.7.26 This Mail is Unauthenticated” Error?
Now that we have figured out the reasons behind the “550 5.7.26 This Mail is Unauthenticated” error message, it is time đồ sộ learn how đồ sộ fix the issue. Here’s how you can bởi it:
Implement Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
To fix the unauthenticated sender error in Gmail, you should start by implementing SPF. By specifying which mail servers are authorized đồ sộ send emails on behalf of your tên miền, you can prevent unauthorized users from sending emails that appear đồ sộ come from your tên miền, which is one of the primary concerns of tin nhắn service providers.
Set up DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
The next step towards achieving compliance is đồ sộ enforce DKIM, which helps verify that the contents of your emails have not been altered in transit and confirms that they were sent from your tên miền. This simple step reinforces the trustworthiness of your emails and improves their tin nhắn deliverability.
Employ Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)
Perhaps the most important step of them all, implementing DMARC, is crucial for providing instructions đồ sộ receiving mail servers on how đồ sộ handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks. One of the main reasons that Google has made it mandatory for organizations that send bulk emails đồ sộ authenticate their domains with DMARC is because this authentication protocol helps build a strong defense against phishing and tin nhắn spoofing by specifying policies for handling unverified emails.
Offer Unsubscribe Option đồ sộ Your Recipients
An important update in Google’s revamped email-sending policies is that your marketing emails must include an unsubscribe button sánh that recipients can easily opt out of receiving the emails they no longer require.
Stay Up-to-date with Best Practices
Email service providers lượt thích Google and Yahoo keep updating their policies regularly đồ sộ enhance security and combat spam. To ensure that you are way ahead of the cyber attackers and that your emails seamlessly reach the intended recipients’ inboxes, you should regularly review and adjust your tin nhắn sending practices as per the latest guidelines and industry trends.
Need help fixing the “550 5.7.26 This Mail is Unauthenticated” issue? Our team at DuoCircle has got you covered! From implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC đồ sộ regularly monitoring tin nhắn delivery issues, we provide comprehensive solutions đồ sộ ensure that your emails are properly authenticated and delivered. Contact us today đồ sộ resolve your tin nhắn authentication issues and optimize your tin nhắn marketing efforts.