Millions of people start their day by checking email. They might spend about 10 minutes of
that time just deleting unwanted and junk emails. Google does a pretty good job of redirecting
emails that contain malware, phishing, and spam links but the company says it’s going to do
even better.
In a blog post this week, Google announced it will be rolling out new features aimed at keeping
Gmail inboxes are cleaner.

Gmail is the world’s largest email client and it isn’t even close. Over 1.8 billion people use it
most every day. That makes Gmail a favorite vehicle for spammers and scammers.
Bulk email senders can send out millions of emails every day. Google says it aims to put a stop
to some of it and if it works the way Google says it will, you can expect to see fewer unwanted
emails each morning.

Google says bulk senders will need to be validated to ensure they are who they claim to be.
Simply put, email senders must have some form of authentication before the email winds up in
Gmail inboxes.
Google started using a validation process last year and says the unauthenticated messages
dropped by 75%. You may not have noticed it but take a look inside your Gmail spam folder (if
you dare). This process requires those sending significant volumes of email to authenticate their
email addresses.

Perhaps the best change coming to Gmail is the ability for users to easily unsubscribe to
unwanted messages. Maybe you don’t even remember sharing your email address on a website
to receive a free e-book or order of fries. When you receive emails from that company or
person, you’re required to scroll to the bottom of an email and search the fine print for an
“unsubscribe” link. Even then, once you click it you have to go to another website where they try
their hardest to make you stay on the mailing list.

Google says unsubscribing must take just one click and no more waiting for an unsubscribe
request. Google says the emailer has two days to process the unsubscribe request.
Google says moving forward email senders must be beneath a “spam” threshold. If a large
number of Gmail users mark their emails as “spam”, then future emails will be blocked from
Gmail inboxes. Google doesn’t say what the threshold will be.
Google says it’ll begin enforcing the new rules in February 2024.