Michal Krejčí
In 2021, t-online.de, the leading email provider in Germany, announced several significant changes to how it accepts bulk emails. In short, this means:
For t-online.de to deliver your bulk email to the inbox of a recipient at the t-online.de domain, or a recipient who uses t-online.de mail servers for their own domain, the sender must have full domain alignment between the domains used in SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), reverse DNSThe Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resource... (rDNS), and the From address.
Dispatch must also originate from a dedicated IP address, and bulk emails must be sent from that IP regularly and in consistent volumes.
When collecting customer data through a form, you must use double opt-in (double verification).
This means that if you send emails from the domain example.cz:
- Your domain’s SPF record (Return-Path) must be example.cz or a subdomain of example.cz (e.g., novinky.example.cz).
- Your domain’s DKIM record must be example.cz or a subdomain of example.cz (e.g., novinky.example.cz).
- The reverse DNS (rDNS) record of your sending IP address must be example.cz or a subdomain of example.cz (e.g., novinky.example.cz). A custom reverse DNS record can only be set for dedicated IP addresses.
In short, this means that the domains specified in the SPF, DKIM, and rDNS records must match for t-online.de to accept your email.
What to look out for when dispatching to t-online.de?
Due to the numerous policies of the provider t-online.de, you should regularly monitor campaign results when dispatching bulk emails to addresses at this provider. On the Recipients’ Activity tab, select Bounced in the drop-down menu and, in the bounced message details, look for blocking events from t-online.de with the following message:
554 IP=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx - No or poor reputation. Ask your postmaster for help or to contact xxxx@rx.t-online.de to request a reset. (NOWL)
If communication with recipients on the t-online.de domain is critical for your company, we recommend switching to a dedicated IP address with the correct records.
How do I get a dedicated IP address for sending?
By default, clients are assigned one of the shared IP addresses for sending bulk messages, but these cannot be used for deliveries to t-online.de. Upon request, we can assign a dedicated IP address reserved exclusively for your deliveries. If you’re interested, contact your account manager or support. In your request, please specify how many recipients you plan to send to and how often. Sending bulk messages requires that all recipients have consented to receive them.
I want to send emails from multiple domains
t-online.de’s requirements are strict in this regard: if the domain in the From field does not match the domains listed in SPF, DKIM, and rDNS, the bulk email will be rejected.
If you use a dedicated IP address for each domain you send from, with reverse DNS matching the From domain, you’ll be able to successfully deliver your bulk emails.
