Should I remove DMARC and DKIM records to use Amazon SES shared domain reputation?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 5 May 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
8 min read
The idea of removing DMARC and DKIM records to "borrow" Amazon SES's shared domain reputation might seem appealing, especially if you are facing deliverability challenges with your current domain. It is a common misconception that by doing so, you can bypass strict sender requirements and achieve better inbox placement. While Amazon SES does offer shared IP pools and manages the reputation of those IPs, your domain's reputation remains distinct and critically important.
This strategy is not only ill-advised but can also lead to severe, long-term damage to your email program. Major mailbox providers like Gmail and Yahoo have significantly tightened their email authentication requirements, making it nearly impossible for unauthenticated mail to reach the inbox. Trying to evade these standards by leveraging a shared reputation is a risky gamble that will likely result in increased spam placements and rejections.
Ultimately, your sending domain's reputation is your own, and investing in proper email authentication is non-negotiable for sustainable deliverability. We will explore why removing these vital records is detrimental and what steps you should take instead to secure your email program and improve your inbox rates.
When you send emails through Amazon SES, you're leveraging their infrastructure, which includes their shared IP addresses. Amazon works hard to maintain a strong reputation for these IPs, which benefits all senders using them. However, it's crucial to understand that while IP reputation is one factor, domain reputation is increasingly becoming the dominant factor in how mailbox providers assess incoming mail.
Your domain's reputation is built on its sending history, compliance with email standards, spam complaint rates, bounce rates, and engagement metrics from your recipients. This reputation is tied directly to your domain, regardless of the IP address you send from. Even if you use a shared IP, your domain's individual track record dictates how your emails are treated. A "medium" reputation in Google Postmaster Tools (GPT) indicates that there's room for improvement in your domain's sending practices. Simply removing authentication records will not magically elevate your domain's standing.
The belief that you can "piggyback" off Amazon's domain reputation by removing your own authentication is fundamentally flawed. When you send emails from your domain, even through a service like Amazon SES, mailbox providers expect your domain to be properly authenticated. Your domain is the primary identifier for your brand, and its authenticity is paramount for deliverability. While shared IPs can be beneficial for senders with good practices, they are not a shield for poor sending habits or a substitute for proper domain authentication.
Understanding domain reputation
Your domain's reputation is built over time based on factors like engagement, spam complaints, bounce rates, and adherence to email authentication standards. It's a critical factor for inbox placement. Learn more in our guide on improving domain reputation.
IP reputation
While shared IP reputation is managed by providers like Amazon SES, it's not a substitute for your domain's own authentication. A good IP reputation helps, but your domain must also be trustworthy. DMARC works with shared IPs.
The role of DMARC and DKIM
DMARC and DKIM are fundamental email authentication protocols that verify sender identity and prevent email spoofing. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) uses a digital signature to ensure that the email has not been tampered with in transit and that it genuinely originates from the claimed domain. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) builds upon SPF and DKIM by allowing domain owners to specify how recipient mail servers should handle emails that fail authentication checks, and to receive reports on authentication failures.
The latest sender requirements from Gmailand Yahoo explicitly state that emails must be authenticated with SPF or DKIM, and for bulk senders, DMARC is required with alignment. Crucially, the From: header domain must align with the DKIM signing domain. If your domain is not signing with its own DKIM, and you rely solely on Amazon SES's DKIM signature, your emails will likely be rejected starting in April 2024 for Google, and similar strict enforcement is in place for Yahoo. There has been some confusion about timelines, but the core requirement for domain-level authentication remains unchanged.
By removing your DMARC and DKIM records, you would effectively be telling receiving mail servers that your domain does not authenticate its email, making it highly susceptible to spoofing and phishing attempts. This lack of authentication immediately signals to spam filters that your email is suspicious. It undermines your efforts to build and maintain a positive sender reputation. You can refer to our simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM for more detailed information.
Attempting to send emails without proper DMARC and DKIM authentication, hoping to rely on Amazon SES's shared reputation, is a strategy doomed to fail. Mailbox providers, including Outlook, are increasingly scrutinizing email authentication. If your From: header domain does not align with a valid DKIM signature that you control, your messages are highly likely to be marked as spam or rejected outright.
A high spam complaint rate on your existing stream (e.g., above 0.1% or 0.3% for Google/Yahoo) indicates fundamental issues with your list hygiene or content. Removing authentication records will not solve these underlying problems, it will only exacerbate them. It essentially signals to receiving servers that your domain is not legitimate, making it an easy target for blocklisting (or blacklisting) at the domain level.
Furthermore, while Amazon SES provides a robust sending infrastructure, they also have strict compliance policies. If your sending practices lead to excessive complaints, bounces, or other negative metrics, Amazon SES is likely to suspend your account, regardless of whether you're using shared IPs. This would halt your email sending completely, leaving you with no warm IPs and a severely damaged domain reputation.
Instead of attempting to bypass authentication, the focus should be on improving your actual sender reputation. This involves cleaning your mailing lists, ensuring good engagement, providing easy unsubscribe options, and consistently sending relevant content. These efforts, combined with proper DMARC and DKIM implementation, are the only sustainable path to excellent deliverability. For more insights, check out our article on why emails go to spam and how to fix it.
The short-term temptation
Goal: Attempt to piggyback on Amazon's general IP and domain reputation.
Method: Remove DMARC and DKIM records for your domain.
Outcome: Increased rejections and spam folder placement due to lack of domain authentication and alignment, potential account suspension by SES. Severe damage to your domain reputation. DMARC compliance is essential.
The long-term strategy
Goal: Establish and maintain a strong, independent domain reputation.
Method: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your domain. Actively manage list hygiene and content quality. For a quick check, try an email deliverability tester.
Outcome: Improved inbox placement, reduced spam complaints, enhanced brand trust, and compliance with sender guidelines. This ensures sustained deliverability. Read more about technical solutions for deliverability.
Prioritizing your domain reputation
Authentication Protocol
Purpose
Impact of Removal on Amazon SES
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
Authorizes specific IP addresses to send email on behalf of your domain.
If not correctly set up with Amazon SES, your emails might fail SPF checks, leading to rejections or spam placement.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
Digitally signs emails to verify sender identity and ensure message integrity. Turning on DKIM impacts deliverability.
Critical for Gmail and Yahoo's sender requirements. Removing DKIM will cause alignment failures and direct rejection for many recipients. Manage DKIM keys to preserve reputation.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)
Instructs receiving servers how to handle emails failing SPF or DKIM, and provides reporting.
Required for bulk senders by Google and Yahoo. Removing it means losing control over unauthenticated emails and forfeiting valuable feedback reports. A DMARC policy of p=none still provides benefits.
Focusing on core deliverability practices is essential. This includes maintaining a clean and engaged subscriber list, sending relevant content, and ensuring your email authentication is impeccable. High complaint rates are a clear indicator that list hygiene or content strategy needs immediate attention. No amount of shared IP reputation can overcome a poor sending domain reputation.
Furthermore, a medium reputation in Google Postmaster Tools, while not ideal, is far from catastrophic if your actual deliverability is still good. It simply means there's room to grow. Trying to escape this by abandoning authentication is akin to self-sabotage, pushing your domain into a state where it's perceived as untrustworthy and potentially subject to immediate blocklisting (or blacklisting).
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always maintain proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domains to ensure message authentication and alignment.
Continuously monitor your domain's reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools to identify and address issues promptly.
Prioritize list hygiene by regularly removing unengaged subscribers and bounced addresses to reduce spam complaints.
Implement one-click unsubscribe headers for marketing emails, as required by major mailbox providers, to improve user experience.
Common pitfalls
Believing that using a shared IP from a reputable ESP like Amazon SES absolves you from managing your own domain's reputation.
Attempting to bypass authentication requirements by removing DMARC and DKIM records, which leads to immediate delivery failures.
Ignoring high spam complaint rates, as this signals poor list quality or irrelevant content, leading to reputation damage and suspensions.
Expecting overnight improvements in deliverability without addressing underlying sending practice issues, such as list hygiene.
Expert tips
Your domain's reputation is increasingly paramount, even with shared IPs. Focus on building and protecting it actively.
Understand that mailbox providers' authentication requirements are not suggestions, they are mandates for inbox delivery.
Invest in comprehensive deliverability monitoring and reporting to gain visibility into authentication failures and delivery issues.
Treat email deliverability as an ongoing process requiring consistent attention to technical setup and sending practices.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says a client wanted to remove DMARC and DKIM on Amazon SES to leverage shared domain reputation, but this is a bad idea because it signals spammer behavior.
March 12, 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says companies attempting to avoid authentication are exactly what Google and Yahoo are targeting, as they are not clean enough to get delivered on their own.
March 12, 2024 - Email Geeks
Final thoughts on DMARC and DKIM with Amazon SES
The notion of removing DMARC and DKIM records to leverage Amazon SES's shared domain reputation is a dangerous miscalculation. While Amazon SES provides robust infrastructure and manages its IP reputation, your domain's reputation is your ultimate asset, and it depends heavily on strong authentication. Mailbox providers like Google and Yahoo are increasingly strict, requiring explicit DMARC and DKIM alignment to ensure legitimate email delivery.
Attempting to bypass these essential authentication protocols will not only fail to improve your deliverability but will actively damage your domain's credibility, leading to widespread rejections and potential blocklisting (or blacklisting). Furthermore, it puts you at risk of having your Amazon SES account suspended if your sending practices fall out of compliance with their policies.
Instead of seeking shortcuts, focus on the fundamentals of good email sending: maintain a clean list, send relevant content, and ensure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured and monitored. These proactive steps are the only sustainable path to achieving and maintaining excellent inbox placement. If you're encountering deliverability issues, consult our detailed guide on email deliverability issues.
Gmail
and Yahoo have significantly tightened their email authentication requirements, making it nearly impossible for unauthenticated mail to reach the inbox. Trying to evade these standards by leveraging a shared reputation is a risky gamble that will likely result in increased spam placements and rejections.
works hard to maintain a strong reputation for these IPs, which benefits all senders using them. However, it's crucial to understand that while IP reputation is one factor, domain reputation is increasingly becoming the dominant factor in how mailbox providers assess incoming mail.
Amazon SES, it's not a substitute for your domain's own authentication. A good IP reputation helps, but your domain must also be trustworthy. DMARC works with shared IPs.
Outlook, are increasingly scrutinizing email authentication. If your From: header domain does not align with a valid DKIM signature that you control, your messages are highly likely to be marked as spam or rejected outright.
