Sender "From" Address Validation

To better align with email deliverability best practices and enhance compliance, Eloqua is rolling out configuration changes to how sender “From” addresses are managed with the 25D release (Nov 2025). Please also note that domains configured and used for sending emails in Eloqua should be dedicated solely to Eloqua, and should not be shared with other marketing platforms or external systems. This approach supports deliverability best practices and ensures compliance with these new requirements. These updates will ensure all emails are sent exclusively from validated and approved sending domains—helping protect your sender reputation and future-proofing your email programs. 

What's Changing:

Allowed Sending Domains 

  • What's Included? 
    • Bounceback Domains: All domains set as bounceback domains in your Eloqua environment, visible in the email defaults screen. 
    • Recently Used Domains: Any domains used as sender “From” addresses to send emails via Eloqua in the previous six months, even if not currently configured as a bounceback domain.
      • Example: If example1.com is your bounceback domain but example2.com was activey used in the last 6 months, both domains will be temporarily valid. This applies to parent and subdomains as well. If go.example.com is your bounceback domain but example.com (the parent domain) was actively used to send emails in the last 6 months, both domains will be temporarily valid. 
      • Important: This 6-month allowance is only a transitional grace period. After the 26B release (May 2026), only domains with a matching bounceback domain will be recognized as valid. 
  • What's Excluded? 
    • Major ISP domains such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail, Apple, and similar are not permitted for the sender “From” address—Eloqua will block attempts to use these domains and display a clear validation message.
  • What's to Come? (Not included in 25D Release): 
    • In an upcoming release, selecting the sender “From” domain will be limited to a dropdown (picklist) populated only with your approved domains, further simplifying compliance. (Note: More information on timing will be provided when available)

Business Benefit: Eloqua’s enhanced sender domain validation policy introduces a phased approach to enforce the use of only authorized sending domains thereby improveng email deliverability, security, and compliance. 

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

  • Validation enforcement begins with the 25D Release: 
    • From the 25D release, Eloqua will validate sender “From” domains both in the UI and via the API. Attempts to use non-approved domains—inclusive of any newly restricted ISP domains or unregistered domains—will result in a validation error and blocked send.
  • API Endpoints Impacted:
    • Create and Update actions regarding an email asset will be impacted 
      • POST: /API/REST/2.0/assets/email
      • PUT: /API/REST/2.0/assets/email/{id}
      • POST: /API/REST/1.0/assets/email
      • PUT: /API/REST/1.0/assets/email/{id} 
    •  Please view a detailed product notice on the related API Endpoint changes
  • Scope of Validation for 25D: 
    • Only the sender "From" address is validated. The "Reply-To" address is not included in this release, but may be in scope in future updates. 

Key Resources

Please review our Product Notice: Sender "From" Address Validation Coming to Eloqua [Nov 2025] for full details, instructions and sample screenshots.