Gmail and the via

I was hoping to have a detailed post up today about the conditions where gmail presents the user with a “via” but time seems to have gotten away from me. But I can give you the conclusions.

  1. A via is presented to the user when you have a DKIM pass and the domain in the d= does not match the domain in the visible from address. In this case the interface shows via the d= domain.
  2. A via is presented to the user when you have a SPF pass, no valid DKIM (either a fail or no signature at all) and the domain in the return path is different than the domain in the visible from address. In this case the interface shows via the SPF domain.

This is an issue for ESP customers who are letting ESPs sign on their behalf. If your ESP is signing with their own domain, or their own domain is present in the return path, then all your mail will be displayed with “via” in the gmail interface.
In order to not have a via showing, you need to have either the return path or the d= value within the same domain as your visible from address. There are two ways to do this. Probably the easiest is to delegate a subdomain to your ESP so they can manage the signing and keys for you. Alternatively, you can manage DKIM keys yourself and just have your ESP sign with the private key you give them.
I have heard that recipients can remove the via by replying to a message or by adding the sender to their address books. My testing did not show that either method was effective in removing the “via” from the display.
Tomorrow, the work that went into these rather simple recommendations.

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His questions were well informed for the most part. A few of them were completely out of left field, so I asked him for some of his references. One of those references was the EEC Email Authentication Whitepaper.
My client was doing the best he could to inform himself and relies on industry groups like the EEC to provide him with accurate information. In this case, their information was incomplete and incorrect.
We all have our perspectives and biases (yes, even me!) but there are objective facts that can be independently verified. For instance, the EEC Authentication whitepaper claimed that Yahoo requires DKIM signing for access to their whitelist program. This is incorrect, a sender does not have to sign with DKIM in order to apply for the Yahoo whitelist program. A bulk sender does have to sign with DKIM for a Y! FBL, but ISPs are given access to an IP based FBL by Yahoo. I am shocked that none of the experts that contributed to the document caught that error.
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There have been two symptoms I’ve been hearing about. One is an increase in bulk folder delivery for mail that previously was reliably hitting the inbox. The other is a bit more interesting. I’ve heard of 3 different mailers, with good reputations and very clean lists, that are seeing 4xx delays on some of their mail. The only consistency I, and my colleagues at some ESPs, have identified is that the mail is “bursty.”
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