Your Emails Are Going to Spam.
Your Clients Never See Them.
Here's Why, and How to Fix It.
Quotes, invoices, and appointment reminders that land in junk usually have a technical cause: SPF, DKIM, or DMARC set up wrong, or an email tool sending as your domain without permission. Since 2024, Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.com have tightened the rules for exactly these records. Here is what to check, and how to get it fixed.
60-second check · No login needed · Works with Google Workspace & Microsoft 365
What our clients say
“We had no idea our SPF was broken until PlatOps flagged it. They fixed everything in 3 days and our deliverability jumped from 68% to 97%.”
CEO
Management consulting firm
“Simple, professional, no jargon. They explained what was wrong, fixed it, and gave us a clear report. Bounces dropped 40% in the first week.”
Operations Manager
Financial services firm
“We were getting spoofed and didn't even know it. PlatOps set up DMARC enforcement and the problem stopped within 24 hours.”
Founder
E-commerce brand
Why Business Email Lands in Spam
Mailbox providers decide in a fraction of a second whether a message really came from you and whether people want it. These six problems cause most of the misses we see, roughly in the order to check them.
SPF is missing, duplicated, or over the lookup limit
SPF lists the services allowed to send email for your domain. A domain may publish only one SPF record — two records is an error. The record may also trigger no more than 10 DNS lookups, and every service you add uses some. Past 10, SPF fails for every message, not just the newest tool's.
How to check: Look for exactly one TXT record starting v=spf1, and count its include: entries.
DKIM isn't signing, or isn't aligned
DKIM adds a signature that proves a message wasn't altered and came from your domain. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 don't sign with your own domain until you publish the DKIM key in DNS and switch it on. Many email tools sign with their own domain by default, which passes DKIM but doesn't line up with your From address.
How to check: In a received message, open Show original (Gmail) and check that DKIM shows d=yourdomain.com.
There's no DMARC record
DMARC tells receivers what to do when SPF and DKIM don't line up with the From address, and sends you reports about who is sending as your domain. Without it, Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com treat bulk mail from your domain as non-compliant, and you have no visibility into spoofing.
How to check: Look for a TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com starting v=DMARC1.
Your other email tools aren't authenticated
Invoices from QuickBooks or Xero, newsletters from Mailchimp, quotes from your CRM, booking reminders — each sends as your domain from someone else's servers. If a tool isn't in your SPF record and isn't signing DKIM with your domain, its mail fails DMARC alignment even though you sent it on purpose.
How to check: List every service that sends From: your domain, then confirm each has its own SPF include or DKIM key.
Your domain or sending IP has a poor reputation
Mailbox providers score the domain and the servers your mail comes from. A brand-new domain, a sudden jump in volume, a shared sending IP that other customers abused, or a listing on a public blocklist all push mail toward spam even when authentication is perfect.
How to check: Check Google Postmaster Tools for domain reputation, and look up your sending IPs on public blocklists.
Too many complaints, bounces, or old addresses
Every time a recipient clicks Report spam, your reputation drops. Google and Yahoo ask bulk senders to stay under a 0.3% spam rate, and Google recommends staying under 0.1%. Sending to purchased lists, years-old contacts, or people who never opted in drives complaints and bounces up quickly.
How to check: Remove hard bounces, make unsubscribing one click, and only email people who asked to hear from you.
The 10-lookup limit comes from the SPF standard, RFC 7208 section 4.6.4. Content and formatting matter too, but fix authentication first: no wording change rescues mail that fails it.
Check Your Records in 60 Seconds
Our free email spoofing check reads your domain's SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and MX records and explains in plain English what is missing or wrong. No login, no access to your email.
Run the Free CheckWhat Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.com Now Require
The three largest consumer mailbox providers now publish minimum rules for anyone sending in volume. Mail that misses them can be sent to spam or rejected outright.
Bulk-sender minimums
- SPF and DKIM both set up for your sending domain
- A DMARC record — p=none is accepted; enforcement is not required
- Your From: domain aligned with the SPF or DKIM domain
- One-click unsubscribe on marketing and subscription mail
- Spam complaint rate below 0.3%
None of the three requires an enforced DMARC policy. An enforced policy (p=quarantine or p=reject) is what stops criminals from sending email as your domain, which is a separate reason to get there.
Google (Gmail)
Since February 2024Applies the full set to senders of about 5,000+ messages a day to Gmail addresses. All senders must have SPF or DKIM and keep spam complaints low.
Source: Google's sender guidelinesYahoo
Since February 2024Same requirements for bulk senders, including a DMARC record of at least p=none, one-click unsubscribe honored within 2 days, and a spam rate under 0.3%.
Source: Yahoo's sender best practicesMicrosoft (Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live)
Since May 2025Similar rules for domains sending 5,000+ messages a day to consumer Outlook.com addresses: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC of at least p=none, aligned with SPF or DKIM.
Source: Microsoft's announcementSending fewer than 5,000 a day? The bulk rules may not apply to you yet, but receivers judge everyone by the same signals. Your newsletter, CRM, and staff mail all count toward your domain's total.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
Missed email costs you replies you never hear about, and a domain anyone can send as is an open door for invoice fraud.
1 in 8
legitimate emails miss the inbox (87.2% placement, 2025)
How We Fix It
We make the DNS changes for you, authenticate every tool that sends as your domain, and log each change with a rollback plan. Pick the path that fits.
One-time setup
DMARC Enforcement Sprint
$2,500 per domain
Fix SPF and DKIM, find every service sending as you, and move your domain to an enforced DMARC policy over about 30 days.
See the SprintOngoing
Managed DMARC
$99 per domain per month, billed annually
We read your DMARC reports every month and safely authorize each new email tool, so a new CRM or billing app doesn't land you back in spam.
See Managed DMARCPrefer to do it yourself? Start free with DDMARC. Not sure what you need? Run the free check first.
Is This Right for You?
This is for you if…
- You email clients from your own domain (not free Gmail/Yahoo)
- You're on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
- Clients say your emails end up in junk
- Invoices, quotes, or newsletters go out from other tools
- Someone is spoofing your domain
- You have no IT team, or it's stretched thin
- You'd rather have it done for you than learn DNS
This is NOT for you if…
- You use free Gmail or Yahoo addresses for business
- You need help writing marketing emails or growing a list
- You're looking for an email platform (we don't sell one)
- You want to manage DMARC yourself (use DDMARC instead)
How We Protect Your Data
We built our process around the principle of least privilege. Here's how we keep your data safe.
DNS-only access
We only need access to your DNS records. Never your email, admin console, or internal systems.
Least-privilege approach
We request the minimum access needed. Temporary credentials only, revoked after the project.
Full change log
Every DNS change is documented with timestamps, before/after values, and who made the change.
Rollback plan included
Before any change, we prepare a rollback. If something unexpected happens, we revert immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are my business emails going to spam?
The most common causes are technical, not your wording: an SPF record that is missing, duplicated, or over the 10-DNS-lookup limit; DKIM that isn't signing or signs with your email tool's domain instead of yours; no DMARC record; or a CRM, invoicing app, or newsletter tool sending as your domain without being authenticated. Sender reputation and complaint rates matter too. A free domain check shows which of these apply to you.
Do the Google and Yahoo sender rules apply to my business?
The strictest rules apply to bulk senders — Google defines that as close to 5,000 or more messages a day to Gmail addresses, counted across your whole domain, and Microsoft uses the same figure for Outlook.com. Most small businesses send less than that. But Google also requires every sender to use SPF or DKIM and keep spam complaints low, and a newsletter plus your CRM plus your staff can add up faster than you expect. Meeting the bulk-sender standard is the safe default.
Is a DMARC policy of p=none enough?
For the Google, Yahoo and Microsoft sender requirements, yes: they ask for a valid DMARC record and accept p=none. But p=none only reports — it doesn't stop anyone sending fake email as your domain. Stopping spoofing takes an enforced policy (p=quarantine or p=reject), reached in stages so legitimate mail isn't blocked.
What is the SPF 10-lookup limit?
The SPF standard allows at most 10 DNS lookups while a receiver evaluates your record. Every include: for a service such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or a marketing tool uses at least one, and some use several. Go over 10 and SPF returns an error, which receivers treat as a failure — so adding one more tool can quietly break authentication for all of your mail.
Do you need access to my email account?
No. We never touch your inbox. We only need access to your DNS records (where your domain's settings live). That's usually a simple login to your domain registrar like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Cloudflare. We'll walk you through it.
What if I use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?
Both work the same way: the fix is in DNS records at your domain registrar, plus turning on DKIM signing in the Google or Microsoft admin console. Both providers leave DKIM for your own domain to you, so it's often missing on accounts that were set up quickly.
Do you guarantee my emails will land in the inbox?
We can't guarantee inbox placement — no one honestly can, because it depends on content, sending behavior, and recipient filters. What we do guarantee is that your email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) will be correctly configured, which removes a major reason emails get flagged as spam.
Can I fix it myself?
Often, yes. Run the free spoofing check to see your SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX records, then correct them at your DNS provider. DDMARC, our self-serve DMARC platform, has a free plan and paid plans from $29/month to monitor reports and tell you what to fix. Choose us when you'd rather have it done for you.
Ask Us Why Your Email Lands in Spam
Tell us your domain and what you're seeing. We'll check your setup and reply within one business day with what's wrong and the simplest way to fix it.
Get a Free Assessment or Choose a Package
We'll respond within one business day.