Update: Support for One-Click List-Unsubscribe for Marketo Customers

[samchang]

As many of you have read or have heard, Gmail and Yahoo has issued a variety of new sender requirements starting on February 1, 2024.  Many of the initial requirements revolve around ensuring messages are properly authenticated with SPF/DKIM/DMARC, as well as compliance with Spam Complaint rates.

One of these requirements include the support of One-Click List-Unsubscribe as defined in RFC 8058.  This requirement was pushed out to June 2024 for both Gmail and Yahoo.  What this means is, starting in June 2024, all Bulk senders are required to support One-Click List-Unsubscribe which includes having the presence of the following in their marketing messages:

1. List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click
2. List-Unsubscribe: <URL Unsubscribe>, [optional <mailto:>]
3. The URL unsubscribe in the List-Unsubscribe:
   1. Must not direct a customer to a preference page
   2. Support receiving a HTTP POST response back from the receiver
   3. Process the HTTP POST response (unsubscribe the user) within 48 Hrs
4. Ensuring the List-Unsubscribe-Post and List-Unsubscribe: are included headers in the DKIM Signature (in the h= tag)

Marketo has always supported List-Unsubscribe: (RFC 2369) in all Marketing messages by automatically including a <mailto:> option in List-Unsubscribe: Header, and this was a seamless process done automatically without the need of any intervention from our customers.

Beginning on January 31, 2024, Marketo has put the necessary changes in place to support the One-Click List-Unsubscribe requirement, and all Marketing messages will support One-Click List-Unsubscribe.  Recipients who request a One-Click Unsubscribe will be automatically unsubscribed from all future communications across a Marketo instance.  We recognize the importance of Operational and Transactional messages, and One-Click List-Unsubscribe or List-Unsubscribe will not be present in these types of messages sent from Marketo.

Additional information about these requirements from Google and Yahoo can be found here:

• Google Email Sender Guidelines
• Google Email Sender Guidelines FAQ
• Yahoo Email Sender Requirements FAQ

Thank you very much,

Samuel Chang

Product Manager - Deliverability

[samchang]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you very much for your input!    Currently the implementation and unsubscribe behavior of the new URL for the One-Click POST List-Unsubscribe functions exactly as the existing mailto: option, which has been used within Marketo for many years now.   The "unsubscribe" option presented by ISPs such as Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail has also been in place for senders who meet the ISPs requirements and had always supported either MAILTO or URI, and prior to the recent implementation to support One-Click List-Unsubscribe, all List-Unsubscribe Requests executed via ISPs "unsubscribe" button, would trigger the mailto: unsubscribe, and the lead would be unsubscribed globally across the instance when the mail request is processed on our end.

The intention of the roll out was to ensure that we are able to provide the necessary facility for our customers to be in compliance of the upcoming requirements, while not to introducing any new or different behavior to how the current and existing unsubscribe functions when executed via the List-Unsubscribe.

I acknowledge everyone's questions and concerns and I will circle back with engineering to see what options are available for customization.    Please stay tuned!

Thank you very much,

Sam

[messier]

Sam - I need to just be crystal clear. Are you are stating that one click unsubscribe is or will be enabled for Gmail/Yahoo - enabling the unsub at the top of the email from Gmail and Yahoo? If so, when will this be implemented? It's not showing up now. 

[SanfordWhiteman]

It is implemented, but bear in mind Google and Yahoo both apply additional heuristics to decide whether to show the in-app unsubscribe link. If they decide some content isn’t “list-y” enough they won’t show the link. This is good for preserving your subscribers but makes troubleshooting more complex!

[lsubirana]

We are seeing issues with the One-Click unsubscribe where we believe Google & Yahoo are negatively impacting our reputation/spam scores.

Our emails do contain the headers, something that looks similar to this:

List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click

List-Unsubscribe: <https://em.vidyo.com/u/Nblahblahblahblahblahblahbla=?emailAddress=blahblahblah>, <mailto:BLAHBLAHBLAH=.1234567@unsub-ab.mktomail.com>

Using the mailto link successfully unsubscribes but the URL sends us to a page that contains an error. Is that link going to a page Marketo customers manage? There is an "unresolved" token in the redirect variable in the script.

[SanfordWhiteman]

@lsubirana you must POST to the URL. Visiting the URL in your browser is a GET. That will not work.

[lsubirana]

Thanks @SanfordWhiteman ... much appreciate you taking the time to point out the things that are plainly written and I'm not reading. 😕