Google Resurrects Its Verified Political Sender Program

Remember Google's program to verify US political senders? Jennifer Nespola Lantz covered this for Spam Resource back in 2022, see here and here to learn more. Well, it's back.The Gmail Verified (Political) Sender Program returns, re-launching September 8, 2026. Detailed in Google's Gmail Verified Sender Program guidelines, the program establishes identity verification and technical compliance standards for US political senders looking to successfully deliver email to Gmail-hosted inboxes.On paper, the requirements sound solid. Senders must authenticate via SPF and DKIM, follow Google's standard bulk sender requirements, refrain from sending spam, and maintain a 14-day average spam complaint rate under 0.3%. These make for OK starting points at a glance, but I’d like to see this running for a while, maybe even a whole campaign cycle, before passing my own judgement. I worry; If requirements end up too loose, or enforcement is lax, or other loopholes are exploited, it risks frustrating…