Half-Year Review: Email in the AI Inbox Era
Six months that rearranged the reading layer: Gemini in Gmail, Microsoft rejecting outright, DMARC finally a standard. What the first half of 2026 means for senders.
#DMARC
15 articles with this tag
DMARCbis Is Published: What RFC 9989 Changes
After eleven years, DMARC is a real standard: RFC 9989, 9990, and 9991 replace RFC 7489. What is different, what stays, and the short list of actions for senders.
Rebrand Migrations: Moving Email Identity to a New Domain
A rebrand replaces the one asset deliverability cannot: your domain's history. The parallel-running plan that carries trust from the old name to the new one.
Microsoft's Rejection Phase Is Live: A 550 5.7.515 Field Guide
Outlook now hard-rejects non-compliant bulk mail with 550 5.7.515, and Safe Senders cannot override it. Diagnosing the bounce and fixing the authentication behind it.
2025 in Email: The Year Authentication Became Mandatory Everywhere
Microsoft joined the mandate, Gmail moved to hard rejection, and DMARCbis reached the finish line. What 2025 changed for senders and what it sets up for 2026.
Building a Deliverability Monitoring Stack
Postmaster Tools, SNDS, FBLs, DMARC reports, TLS-RPT, bounce logs, engagement data: the full observability stack, what each layer catches, and the alerts worth paging on.
DMARCbis: What Changes When DMARC Gets a New RFC
DMARCbis is finishing its journey through the IETF, replacing RFC 7489 with a Standards Track spec. The tree walk, retired tags, and what senders should do now.
Microsoft's New Outlook Sender Requirements: A Compliance Guide
Microsoft now requires SPF, DKIM, and DMARC from high-volume senders to Outlook consumer domains. What the rules demand, how enforcement works, and how to comply.
NIS2 and Email Security: What EU Senders Need to Know
The NIS2 directive makes email authentication and transport security a regulatory matter for thousands of EU organizations. What it requires and where email fits.
Parsing DMARC Aggregate Reports: From Raw XML to Decisions
RUA reports arrive as gzipped XML that nobody reads by hand. The report anatomy, a working parsing pipeline, and how to interpret the sources you will find.
Sending from Subdomains: A Strategic Guide to Domain Architecture
How to architect email subdomains for reputation isolation. The 4-stream model, naming conventions, and why [send.brand.com] beats [mail.brand.com].
Why DMARC Alignment Matters More Than DMARC Itself
DMARC fails when SPF or DKIM pass for the wrong domain. The alignment rules, relaxed vs strict modes, and the ESP configuration that fixes it.
The ARC Header: How Forwarding Breaks DMARC and What You Can Do
Forwarders break DMARC by modifying messages in transit. ARC (RFC 8617) preserves authentication results across hops. How it works, who supports it, and the limits.
BIMI Explained: Is the VMC Investment Worth It for B2B Senders?
BIMI displays your logo in supporting inboxes. The VMC certificate costs $1,500/year. Whether the brand recognition lift justifies the spend honestly assessed.
Understanding DMARC Policies: From p=none to p=reject Without Breaking Things
How to move from DMARC p=none to p=reject without breaking production mail. The phased rollout that actually works with the failures most senders hit.