FAQ: Google Verified Sender Program (Launching September 8, 2026)
Last updated: September 8, 2026
Overview
Starting on September 8, 2026, Google is launching a new Gmail Verified Sender Program (VSP). The program allows eligible U.S. political committees to verify their identity and sending domain in order to help prevent email impersonation, reduce spam, and improve email deliverability for verified, compliant senders. Below we've outlined what you need to know and steps to take if you plan to enroll.
What VSP does: Verified, compliant senders are intended to reliably reach the primary inbox on personal Gmail accounts, rather than being filtered as spam or promotions.
What VSP doesn't do: Gmail users keep full control of their inbox regardless of your VSP program status. Recipients of your emails can still mark your mail as spam, block, or unsubscribe.
For more information you can visit Google's official help center article here, and Campaign Verify's FAQ on the program here.
Who is eligible?
Any candidate, political party, PAC, or other political committee that is a 527 tax-exempt organization and registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or a State, Local, or Tribal Election Authority.
Sole proprietors, 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and other non-campaign entities are not eligible.
Should you enroll in VSP?
Enrolling in VSP is optional. Neither Google nor Campaign Verify requires it, and you can continue sending to Gmail without it.
You might want to enroll if:
You're an eligible 527 tax-exempt organization.
You aren't seeing reliable inbox placement with Gmail.
You have consistent sending volume of at least 10k emails per day.
You already established a full 7 days of sending history.
You feel comfortable managing a spam complaint rate below 0.3%.
You're already Campaign Verify-verified for texting (the email domain verification step is quick and free to add)
You might not want to enroll if:
Your program is small, low volume, or doesn't yet have steady sending history.
You already have strong Gmail deliverability.
You're not sure if you can maintain a sub-0.3% spam complaint rate on an ongoing basis.
Enrollment Requirement Checklist
Confirm your eligibility. VSP is open to 527 tax-exempt political committees registered with the FEC or a State, Local, or Tribal election authority.
If you haven't already, verify your committee and sending domain with Campaign Verify.
Check your sending domain's registration with your registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.) and confirm it doesn't expire before January 31, 2027.
If your domain is set to expire before then, renew it with your registrar before enrolling.
Confirm your sending domain hosts or redirects to your organization's public website.
Set up a Google Postmaster Tools account and verify your sending domain. Instructions here.
Confirm SPF and DKIM are configured for your sending domain.
Switchboard configures DKIM/SPF for domains sending on our platform. Reach out to support@oneswitchboard.com if you're unsure of your setup!
Have at least 7 consecutive days of sending history from the same primary domain, at a sizable, steady daily volume (at least hundreds of messages/day) to unique personal Gmail accounts.
Keep your spam complaint rate below 0.3% on a 14-day rolling average.
Ensure subject lines, headers, sender names, or other message elements are not misleading and are compliant with Google's display name guidelines.
Ex: Don't use "Re:" or "Fwd:" unless the message is an actual reply or forward, and only include actual senders and recipients in "From:" and "To:" headers.
What This Means for You as a Switchboard Email Sender
Verification with Campaign Verify and Google happens outside of Switchboard - we do not manage or submit this on your behalf, but we're happy to help you navigate the process.
Switchboard configures SPF and DKIM authentication for sending domains on our platform - this covers one of Google's requirements. Reach out to us if you're unsure of your setup!
Spam complaint rates and sending cadence are within your control as a sender - the same practices that support good deliverability will also support VSP eligibility. Head to your Email Analytics dashboard to check your spam complaint rate!
FAQ
Q: Can I enroll a subdomain?
Yes, you can enroll a sender address on a subdomain when verifying with Campaign Verify. The root domain is what actually gets verified and every subdomain under it then inherits that root domain's program status.
Spam complaints against any subdomain count toward the root domain's overall spam rate, so high spam on a subdomain can affect standing for the whole domain.
Q: What happens if my spam rate goes over 0.3%?
Google states that non-compliance can result in a 7-day suspension or permanent termination from the program. If suspended or terminated, your domain doesn't lose the ability to send to Gmail, it just reverts to Gmail's standard spam filtering.
Once you resolve technical or spam-rate compliance issues, you'll be automatically re-enrolled within 7 days. You can track your program status in Postmaster Tools.
Q: I'm on a shared sending IP. Can I still enroll?
Yes, Google notes that using a shared IP address does not affect program eligibility, as VSP verifies at the domain level, not the IP level. A dedicated IP is not required.
Our recommendation is to stay on a shared IP unless you're sending roughly 10k+ emails/day consistently. A dedicated IP without enough volume to keep it warm can hurt your deliverability since a low-traffic dedicated IP struggles to build the sending reputation that a shared pool has. If your volume is lower than 10k+ emails/day, staying on a shared IP is the safer choice for your deliverability with Gmail as well as other providers.
Q: When does my Campaign Verify verification expire?
Campaign Verify states that sender email addresses expire at the same time as their associated Campaign Verify identity verification request. Verification requests submitted between November 15, 2024 and November 14, 2026 expire January 31, 2027.
Our Commitment
As always, we’ll continue to keep a close eye on developments. We're closely monitoring updates to both Google's and Campaign Verify's official documentation as the September 8 launch approaches, since some details are still being finalized. We'll update this article as those details firm up.
If you have questions, reach out to us at support@oneswitchboard.com!