Go/no-go evidence worksheet
Cold Email Deliverability Readiness Worksheet: Provider Gates
Use this worksheet to record which provider rules apply to one sending domain, where the evidence lives, who owns each open gate, and whether a volume increase is approved or blocked.
How to use this worksheet
Download the worksheet and complete its blank record fields for one sending domain and campaign. A missing owner, representative sent-message check, or unresolved scope question is a blocked gate—not a readiness score.
Download evidence worksheetClose to 5,000
Gmail messages in 24 hours
Source: Google
Over 5,000
Outlook messages per day
Source: Microsoft
Not disclosed
Yahoo numeric bulk threshold
Source: Yahoo Sender Hub
Executive summary.
The answer is a dated decision record, not a universal score: name the domain and campaign, record provider scope, attach representative evidence, assign every unresolved gate, and block the volume change until the record is complete.
This worksheet translates current Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, FTC, and RFC guidance into evidence prompts. It does not replace the provider comparison or a jurisdiction-specific legal review, claim private customer results, or predict inbox placement.
Methods.
This is an operational evidence worksheet, not another provider-requirements comparison. Read the linked comparison first when you need a provider-by-provider explanation, then return here to record an accountable decision for one domain.
The source set is restricted to first-party mailbox-provider guidance, US regulator guidance, and the primary one-click-unsubscribe standard. Each material rule links to its source beside the claim.
The source ledger was verified on August 11, 2026. Provider definitions differ, so the worksheet preserves comparators and uncertainty instead of forcing unlike rules into one score.
Download data
Download the provider-scope questions, published rules, current primary sources, and blank fields for the domain, campaign, result, observed evidence, owner, decision, and next review.
Download evidence worksheetCitation blocks
Embeddable stats.
<0.1%
Gmail operating spam-rate target
Google tells bulk senders to personal Gmail accounts to keep the user-reported spam rate below 0.1% and avoid 0.3% or higher. This is not an inbox-placement guarantee.
Source: Google
48 hours / 2 days
provider unsubscribe processing
Google sets 48 hours for in-scope bulk-sender marketing or promotional mail to personal Gmail; Yahoo sets two days for in-scope bulk marketing or subscribed mail sent to consumer mailboxes it hosts.
Sources: Google, Yahoo Sender Hub
10 business days
one selected US CAN-SPAM rule
The FTC's opt-out deadline is one part of a broader US commercial-email review. The legal-review prompt below is explicitly non-exhaustive, and provider rules can be faster.
Source: US Federal Trade Commission
Step 1 · Scope record
Record scope before checking gates.
Record Gmail scope
Save the primary sending domain, messages to personal Gmail accounts in the last 24 hours, and prior bulk classification. Google says close to 5,000 messages count across the same primary domain and bulk status does not expire.
Source: Google
Record Outlook scope
Save the domain's daily volume to Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and Live.com consumer addresses. Microsoft's published high-volume rules apply above 5,000 messages per day to those destinations.
Source: Microsoft
Mark Yahoo threshold unknown
Inventory every Yahoo-hosted consumer destination domain or brand, including Yahoo and AOL, and mark numeric threshold status as unknown. Yahoo defines bulk senders by significant volume but does not publish a numeric threshold. Yahoo Japan is separately operated, so route it to a separate scope check rather than assuming these requirements apply.
Source: Yahoo Sender Hub
Step 2 · Evidence record
Record what closes each provider gate.
Representative sent-message evidence
Attach headers from the actual sending path and record SPF, DKIM, DMARC, alignment, TLS, and forward/reverse DNS results for each applicable provider.
Sources: Google, Yahoo Sender Hub, Microsoft
Production unsubscribe evidence
For in-scope bulk marketing or subscribed mail, save both one-click headers, a valid DKIM signature covering both headers, the visible body link, HTTPS POST test, suppression timestamp, and provider-specific processing deadline.
Sources: Google, Google, Yahoo Sender Hub, RFC Editor
Complaint and monitoring evidence
Save the provider dashboard, observation window, current rate, owner, and stop condition. Google and Yahoo publish different spam-rate language, so keep each provider's evidence separate.
Sources: Google, Yahoo Sender Hub
Step 3 · Separate review
Route legal scope to a named owner.
This is a non-exhaustive US prompt, not a complete legal checklist or advice. Other jurisdictions, message types, sectors, and recipient relationships can change the review.
Record the selected US CAN-SPAM prompts
For US commercial email, including B2B, record review of accurate headers and subjects, ad identification where required, a valid postal address, a clear opt-out, a mechanism available for 30 days, no fee or extra information beyond an email address, no step beyond a reply or single web page, honoring requests within 10 business days, and sender responsibility for vendors.
Source: US Federal Trade Commission
Keep provider and legal deadlines separate
A legal opt-out deadline does not replace a faster mailbox-provider requirement. Record the shortest applicable operational deadline and the source that created it.
Sources: Google, Yahoo Sender Hub, US Federal Trade Commission
Escalate unresolved scope
Do not turn uncertainty into an approval. Name the legal or privacy owner, record the open question, and block the send decision until that owner resolves it.
Source: US Federal Trade Commission
Practical checklist
Name the sending domain, campaign, accountable owner, review date, destination mix, and daily volume.
Attach representative final sent headers and record every applicable authentication and transport result.
Save provider-specific complaint evidence, observation windows, owners, and stop conditions.
Test one-click and visible opt-out paths plus production suppression, then record the result and timestamp.
Mark every undisclosed or uncertain provider threshold explicitly instead of inventing a safe number.
Route jurisdiction and message-type review to a named legal or privacy owner; do not treat the selected FTC prompts as a complete legal checklist.
Record approved or blocked, each missing artifact, its owner, and the next review date.
Related resources
Source ledger
Material provider and compliance claims link to current primary sources beside the relevant section. This ledger records what each source supports.
Google · verified 2026-08-11
Gmail authentication, alignment, DNS, TLS, one-click unsubscribe, and gradual-volume requirements and guidance.
Google · verified 2026-08-11
Gmail bulk-sender classification, enforcement, spam-rate guardrails, and 48-hour unsubscribe processing.
Yahoo Sender Hub · verified 2026-08-11
Yahoo authentication, complaint-rate, one-click unsubscribe, visible-link, and two-day processing requirements.
Yahoo Sender Hub · verified 2026-08-11
Yahoo's hosted consumer-domain scope, Yahoo Japan distinction, domain-level bulk classification, and decision not to publish a numeric volume threshold.
Microsoft · verified 2026-08-11
Outlook consumer-domain scope, the over-5,000-per-day trigger, and SPF, DKIM, and DMARC requirements.
US Federal Trade Commission · verified 2026-08-11
US commercial-email scope, including B2B, plus identity, subject, address, opt-out, and processing requirements.
RFC Editor · verified 2026-08-11
The one-click unsubscribe headers, HTTPS POST mechanism, and valid DKIM-signature coverage of both List-Unsubscribe headers.
Maintenance owner
Folderly Research
Review on provider-policy change and at least quarterly. Next review: 2026-11-09.
Review triggers
- • Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft changes sender requirements or enforcement.
- • The FTC or RFC guidance linked here changes.
- • Folderly changes the checker workflow or the qualified next action.
Caveats and limits
Mailbox providers define scope differently. Yahoo does not publish a numeric bulk-volume threshold, its requirements cover the consumer domains and brands it hosts, and Yahoo Japan is separately operated. Gmail's bulk classification is permanent once reached.
The selected FTC prompts are explicitly non-exhaustive and are not legal advice. Message type, recipient and sender location, relationship, lawful basis, and sector rules can change the review.
Passing every published gate does not guarantee inbox placement. Sender history, audience behavior, reputation, content, and provider filtering remain variable.
Apply the provider gates to one representative draft.
Use the checker for copy and sender-readiness guidance, then verify live headers and provider dashboards before increasing volume.