Email deliverability standards continue to evolve in 2025, with Gmail and Yahoo enforcing stricter requirements introduced last year. These policies stem from growing security concerns and the demand for more responsible email marketing practices.
If your organization uses Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot), it’s essential to stay aligned with these rules and take proactive measures to protect your sender reputation and maintain strong engagement rates.
Why These Changes Matter for B2B Email Marketers
Major email inbox providers are tightening their filters in response to the rising volume of spam, phishing attempts, and email security threats. What’s changing isn’t just the rules – it’s the expectations on how you manage email authentication, handle disengaged contacts, and honor unsubscribe requests.
Let’s break down the four key changes and what you should be doing today in Account Engagement to stay compliant – and competitive.
1. Gmail’s Inactive Account Policy and Its Impact
Starting December 2023, Google began enforcing a new policy toward personal accounts. If a personal Gmail account hasn’t been used or accessed in over two years, Google may delete the account and all associated data. This means:
- More hard bounces when emailing inactive @gmail.com addresses
- Negative impact on your sender reputation if not addressed
What to Do in Account Engagement
It’s time to isolate disengaged @gmail addresses. Use dynamic lists to identify these segments. Sample criteria:
- Email contains @gmail.com
- Last activity days ago greater than 730 (2 years)
Once identified, update the “Do Not Email” field to “True” to reflect their inactive status. This will update their mailability and prevent future bounce risks.
Important: Don’t rely on email opens for engagement metrics, especially after Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP). Instead, evaluate by scoring activity or form submissions.
2. Enforce Domain Authentication: SPF, DKIM & DMARC
Google and Yahoo expect all email senders to have:
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
- Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC)
These protocols verify that Account Engagement is authorized to send emails on your behalf. Without them, your messages are susceptible to being marked as spam or rejected entirely.
Why It Matters
Authentication is your foundation for deliverability. It confirms you’re a verified sender – reducing spoofing risk and improving inbox placement.
What to Do in Account Engagement
3. One-Click Unsubscribe Requirements
Google and Yahoo are pushing for a frictionless unsubscribe experience. This means that recipients should be able to unsubscribe with a single click – no additional clicks, or lengthy processes.
Current State in Account Engagement
Emails in Pardot must include either an unsubscribe link or a link to your email preference center. However, email preference centers typically require more than one click to fully opt out.
Recommended Action
To stay compliant and user-friendly:
- Use the standard one-click unsubscribe link in your email templates
- If you rely on preference centers, offer both options in the footer
Insert visual showing differences between unsubscribe link and preference center UX
4. Stay Under the 0.3% Spam Complaint Threshold
Google expects senders to keep spam complaints under 0.3%. That’s equivalent to just one complaint per 300 emails sent. It’s a tight margin – and it’s a call to clean up mailing lists and improve targeting strategies.
Risks of Exceeding the Limit
- Higher chance of being filtered to spam folders
- Reduced deliverability across all email domains
- Pardot flags low deliverability if more than 10% of emails consistently bounce or are reported
What You Can Do
- Routinely suppress disengaged prospects using engagement criteria
- Segment email lists by engagement recency
- Provide valuable, relevant content to build trust and reduce irritability
Insert report screenshot showing spam complaints vs total email volume
Putting It All Together: Your Pardot Email Checklist
| Action | Why It Matters |
| Isolate and suppress inactive @gmail.com users | Reduce bounce rate and avoid penalization under Gmail’s new policy |
| Authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC | Ensure you’re a verified sender and improve inbox placement |
| Implement a one-click unsubscribe option | Comply with Gmail and Yahoo’s user experience expectations |
| Keep spam complaints well below 0.3% | Protect your domain and IP reputation for long-term deliverability |
Final Thoughts
Pardot users can’t afford to take a “send and forget” approach to email marketing. Between spam filters, policy updates, and evolving customer expectations, it’s more important than ever to tighten up your email practices. These changes from Gmail and Yahoo are just the beginning – compliance and optimization will continue to converge.
Need help configuring SPF, DKIM, or cleaning up your database? We help B2B teams inside Salesforce get email-ready, fast. Get in touch today.