Why we only send emails from authenticated domains

Why we only send emails from authenticated domains

Email authentication is essential for reducing the risk of emails being blocked or sent to spam. Authentication allows servers and people to verify that the email is legitimately sent from your organization, and that the servers sending the mail are permitted to send on behalf of your organization. The components involved in authentication – DKIM, SPF, and DMARC, are important tools for overcoming spam and fraud.

Due to the importance of authentication, this platform has a policy of only sending mail from authenticated domains.

 

Why you can’t send from a free email address

Email addresses from providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.com cannot be authenticated for sending in this platform or any other email service provider (ESP). For example, Google owns gmail.com and is the only organization who can authenticate sending from @gmail.com addresses. Because you can’t authenticate those domains, using them to send emails can risks the emails being blocked or classed as spam.

 

Why you need to authenticate your domain

Sending emails with proper domain authentication can improve email deliverability and reputation. It also limits spoofing: only people with ownership of the domain can set up authentication, and it is important to prevent bad actors from impersonating domains they don’t have access to.

Furthermore, Gmail and Yahoo have set robust authentication as a requirement beginning in 2024, and it is likely that other providers will follow. Without authentication, there is an increased likelihood that your emails will be blocked or sent to the spam folder.

For these reasons, we require authenticating your domain before you can use it in the "From" address of your emails.

 

How we’ll help if you don’t authenticate

Your emails are important. We want to give them the best chance of being delivered to your recipients’ inbox and meet industry requirements.

We provide all with a default sending domain to be used as a replacement for unauthenticated domains. For example, if you send emails from a Gmail or Yahoo email address or any other domain that you haven’t or cannot authenticate, we won’t stop you from entering it, but we will make a couple of changes:

  • We’ll authenticate the email with a domain belonging to our systems (eg cmail7.com, createsend7.com, or similar)
  • We’ll adjust the From email address to use a sub-domain specific to your account (eg abcxyz.createsend7.com)
  • Replies from recipients will go to your original From address (unless you customize the Reply-to)

An example transformation of an unauthenticated From address:

  • Original: newsletter@example.com
  • Becomes: newsletter@abcxyz.createsend7.com

You’ll be notified of these changes at various points in the campaign creation process, so it’s clear what’s happening.

 

These changes will help with delivery, but there is no guarantee that it will work every time. If possible, we recommend you authenticate your own domain and send from your authenticated domain.

 

Deactivate the default sending domain

If you are unable to authenticate your own domain, the default domain we provide is designed to help meet deliverability requirements and give your email the best chance of reaching the inbox.

Once deactivated, the default sending domain can be reactivated at any time.


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