Are you currently using a free Gmail account to send your emails? You shouldn’t be, as using a freemail account will dramatically increase your chances of landing in the Spam folder. However, starting in June, you will actually be incapable of using a free Gmail account to send. Your emails will be rejected (and no one likes rejection!)
What is Gmail changing?
In June, Google is going to change its DMARC policy from p=”none” to p=”reject". Essentially, this means that any emails using “@gmail.com” in the FROM address will need to come from Gmail itself (and not your own website.)
Why are they changing it?
The change is aimed at fighting phishing. Read more about DMARC and phishing.
How do I tell if I’m using Gmail to send?
Go to MailPoet > Settings > Basics and look at the ‘From’ email address next to “Default Sender”. If the address is sending from Gmail (YourName@gmail.com), you need to change that!
What should I use instead of Gmail?
As I mentioned above, you should always avoid using a freemail account to send your newsletters. It’s best to send your newsletters from an email account on your domain. To create an email address on your domain, you’ll need to log into the backend of your website and/or your web hosting account. It depends on your specific web host.
If your site runs on cPanel (as many do), follow this guide on HostGator.com.
Still want to read your email in Gmail? Not a problem! Just set up forwarding from your @domain.com address to your Gmail address.
What if I’m using Google Apps to send?
While we don’t recommend using Google Apps (for other reasons), this particular update will not affect you, as long as you’re not using a @gmail.com email address to send your emails.
Since Google Apps users typically send from their own domains, you (probably) don’t have to worry.
Questions?
Still confused? Feel free to ask us any questions on the WordPress Repository.