Email Definitions: Bulk vs Transactional

In an effort to weed out spam and make email more relevant, Google and Yahoo! have recently made changes to their Bulk sender requirements that affect all legitimate email senders. But, what are the definitions of “Bulk” sender and “Bulk” email and how does that affect your email mix?

The Effect

Google and Yahoo! will now require bulk email from bulk senders to pass will SPF, DKIM, and DMARC compliance checks to be considered for delivery and provide a 1-Click Unsubscribe button. Failure to meet these requirements will result in short-term warnings, medium-term placement in Bulk or Junk folders and long-term email rejection. Normal business correspondence, Transactional Emails and senders who do not meet “Bulk Sender” status are exempt from the requirements.

What is Transactional Email?

A transactional email is any email sent with to a single user or account for a single purpose, typically in response to that user’s actions or interactions with the sender and typically with user or account specific content. Good examples of transactional emails are:

  • Account Creation Acknowledgements
  • Account Update Notifications
  • Login/2-factor Notifications
  • Password Changes
  • Order Acknowledgement
  • Invoices or Order Summaries
  • Shipment Notifications
  • Usage Summaries
  • Billing or Credit Card Issues (failure, update necessary, etc.)
  • Account Termination
  • Reminders

What is Bulk Email?

Bulk email is any email that is sent in large quantities or with marketing content. Examples of bulk email include:

  • Newsletters
  • Limited-time Offers
  • Sales/discounts Campaigns
  • Event Announcements 
  • Vouchers, Coupons and Giveaways
  • Transactional Emails with any of the above content

That last one is the kicker. Any transactional email that contains marketing content could count as a bulk email. If you are layering your marketing content into transactional email, you should stop now.

What is a Bulk Sender?

The definition of a Bulk Sender requires sending bulk email but also varies across Inbox Providers. We’ll use the parameters that are the most conservative. The important thing to know: Once you’re labeled a bulk sender, you are forever a bulk sender. Therefore, it’s important to use email best practices when sending messages.

Email Volume

You could be classified as a bulk sender for sending any email to more than one person. While Google requires a single 24-hour period volume of at least 5000 emails to be classified as a Bulk Sender, Yahoo! has refused to define a volume limit. MxToolbox therefore recommends adhering to the bulk sender limits if you send any bulk/marketing email.

Emailing Domain

Email counts are by primary emailing domain. This means that all subdomains are included. So, emails from example.com, and email.example.com and marketing.example.com are all included in the message count.

Email Content

Email volume limits only look at Bulk Email. But that definition is based upon content. Again, most importantly, remove marketing content from transactional email to ensure that it is not classified as bulk.

How Can MxToolbox Help?

Tools like MxToolbox Delivery Center provide deep insight into your DMARC, SPF and DKIM configurations allowing you to meet basic requirements for Bulk Senders. In addition, our Inbox Placement feature will tell you if your campaigns are being sent to the Spam/Junk folders or actually making it to inboxes, as well as which Inbox Provider(s) you are having trouble sending to.

MxToolbox is the Expert on email delivery. We offer a wide range of email delivery services, including a fully managed email delivery service, so be proactive now and take advantage of them before these Bulk Sender guidelines affect your email.