Tell us about how you use Gmail Postmaster Tools

One of the things I hear frequently is that folks really want access to Google Postmaster Tools through an API. I’ve also heard some suggestions that we should start a petition. I thought a better idea was to put together a survey showing how people are using GPT and how high the demand is for an API.
They’re a data company, let’s give them data.

I’ve put together a survey looking at how people are using GPT. It’s 4 pages and average time to take the survey is around 7 minutes. Please give us your feedback on GPT usage.
I’m planning on leaving the survey open through the first week in November. Then I’ll pull data together and share here and with Google.

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Judge sides with plaintiff, refuses to dismiss wiretapping suit against Google

Judge Koh published her ruling on Google’s motion to dismiss today.
It’s a 43 page ruling, which I’m still digesting. But the short answer is that Google’s motion was denied almost in total. Google’s motion was granted for two of the claims: that email is confidential as defined by the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA, section 632) and dismissal of a claim under Pennsylvania law.

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Gmail shows authentication data to the recipient

Yesterday Gmail rolled out some changes to their interface. One of the changes is that they are now showing end users authentication results in the user screen.
It’s really the next step in email authentication, showing the results to the end user.
So how does Google do this? Google is checking both SPF and DKIM. If mail is authenticated and the authentication matches the from address then they display the email as:
mail from steve to me
If we click on “details” for that message, we find more specific information.
full details of message showing signing domain and spf domainIn this case the mail went through our outgoing mailserver to gmail.
Mailed-by indicates that the message passed SPF and that the IP address is a valid source of mail from wordtothewise.com.
Signed-by shows the domain in the DKIM d=. In this case, we signed with the subdomain dt.wordtothewise.com. That’s what happens when you sign using the domain in the From address (or a subdomain of it).
For a lot of bulk senders, though, their mail is signed using their ESP’s domain instead.  In that case Gmail shows who signed the mail as well as the from address.

And when we click on “details” for that message we see:
3rd party signature detailsThis is an email from a sender using Madmimi as an ESP. Madmimi is handling both the SPF authentication and the DKIM authentication.
As an aside, this particular  sender has a high enough reputation that Gmail is offering me an unsubscribe option in their interface.
Gmail is distinguishing between first party and third party signatures in authentication. If the mail is authenticated, but the authentication appears to be handled by a separate entity, then Gmail is alerting recipients to that fact.
What does this mean for bulk senders?
For senders that are signing with a domain that matches their From: domain, there is no change. Recipients will not see any mention of your ESP in the headers.
However, if you are using an ESP that is signing your mail with a domain they own, then your recipients will see that information displayed in the email interface. If you don’t want this to be displayed by Gmail, then you will need to move to first party signing. Talk to your ESP about this. If they’re unsure of how to manage it, you can point them to DKIM Core for an Email Service Provider.
Gmail blogpost about the changes
Gmail help page about authentication results

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What do you think about these hot button issues?

bullhornIt’s been one of those weeks where blogging is a challenge. Not because I don’t have much to say, but because I don’t have much constructive to say. Rants can be entertaining, even to write. But they’re not very helpful in terms of what do we need to change and how do we move forward.
A few different things I read or saw brought out the rants this week. Some of these are issues I don’t have answers to, and some of them are issues where I just disagree with folks, but have nothing more useful to say than, “You’re wrong.” I don’t even always have an answer to why they’re wrong, they’re just wrong.
I thought today I’d bring up the issues that made me so ranty and list the two different points of views about them and see what readers think about them. (Those of you who follow me on Facebook probably know which ones my positions are, but I’m going to try and be neutral about my specific positions.)

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