email infrastructure Archives

08 Jul 2026

Outlook’s Upgraded Mail Merge Feature Raises Questions for Email Marketers on Compliance

Microsoft has added Advanced Mail Merge to the Microsoft 365 roadmap for Outlook on the web and new Outlook for Windows, targeting a June 2026 preview and rollout. The upgrade delivers true per-recipient addressing and richer personalization, making it a better fit for individualized business communications like donor letters or client updates. However, email marketers should understand that Outlook mail merge lacks the compliance infrastructure—unsubscribe...

06 Jul 2026

Microsoft SMTP AUTH confusion is a warning to inventory every system that sends email

by Dave Murphy

in Featured Posts

Comments

Microsoft is deprecating Basic Authentication for SMTP AUTH in Exchange Online, with Basic Auth being disabled by default for existing tenants at the end of December 2026 and permanent removal announced in the second half of 2027. This affects numerous email-sending systems beyond marketing campaigns, including transactional emails, form notifications, and legacy applications that could break silently, impacting deliverability and sender reputation....

29 Apr 2026

ARC Email Protocol Experiment Ends as Industry Shifts to DKIM2 Standard

by Dave Murphy

in Authentication, Deliverability, Featured Posts

Comments

The IETF has proposed reclassifying ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) email protocol as 'Historic,' effectively ending the experiment due to reliability issues. This means email marketers can no longer depend on ARC to protect mail authentication when messages pass through intermediaries, while the industry transitions to the more robust DKIM2 protocol....