Bazaarvoice uses Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) as its Email Service Provider (ESP). Domain authentication is crucial for successful review collection, as it confirms to other ESPs (such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft Outlook) that Amazon SES is authorized to send emails on a client’s behalf. Without this authentication, ESPs distrust messages because they cannot verify the sender’s identity.

Amazon SES follows two key standards to authenticate your domain:

1. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): A security standard that digitally signs outgoing emails, helping recipients trust that the message is from your domain and authorized by its owner. You enable this by adding CNAME (Canonical Name) records to your DNS (Domain Name System) settings, which links your domain to your ESP’s DKIM system.
2. Sender Policy Framework (SPF): A validation standard that prevents email spoofing. Domain owners use SPF to authorize specific servers to send emails from their domain, ensuring emails are sent from your actual domain.

Benefits

• Optimal email deliverability, avoiding spam filters.
• ESPs trust your emails more, improving your sender reputation.
• SPF ensures emails sent from Bazaarvoice display your domain as the MAIL FROM  domain. Without it, the default domain amazonses.com  will be used. This verification helps recipients trust and open your messages. 
• Prevents fraudsters from sending fake emails using your company's name.
• Ensures your messages are secured by confirming your emails are not changed once they are sent.

Authenticate sender email address

Before you begin

1. Sender email address: The email address that Bazaarvoice uses for sending review request emails (RRE) and other communications on your behalf.
2. Subdomain: For example, if your sender email address is noreply@UGC.com a suitable subdomain would be reviews.UGC.com . This subdomain is displayed as the MAIL FROM domain and is critical for SPF configuration.
3. DNS administrator: A person or team familiar with configuring DNS records with your DNS provider.

Add sender email address

1. Open a support ticket: Provide the new email address and its subdomain. 
   1. For existing email addresses: If the email address is already configured in your client instance, open a support ticket stating your preferred subdomain, then proceed to step 3.
2. Verify your email address: Bazaarvoice will add the email address to the system. Amazon SES will then send a verification email to confirm your domain ownership. Complete the verification to authorize Amazon SES to send emails on your behalf.
3. Receive DNS records: As part of domain authentication, Bazaarvoice will generate the necessary CNAME (for DKIM) and SPF records and provide them to you.
   
   Example: CNAME records
   

   Name	Type	Value
   5c8f7e2d9a4b3c1f6d0e8a7b9c2d1e0f._domainkey.yourdomain.ugc	CNAME	5c8f7e2d9a4b3c1f6d0e8a7b9c2d1e0f.dkim.amazonses.com
   b3a4c5d2e1f0a9b8c7d6e5f4a3b2c1d0._domainkey.yourdomain.ugc	CNAME	b3a4c5d2e1f0a9b8c7d6e5f4a3b2c1d0.dkim.amazonses.com
   1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2c3d4e5f6a._domainkey.yourdomain.ugc	CNAME	1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2c3d4e5f6a.dkim.amazonses.com

Example: SPF records

4. Update DNS settings: Add the provided CNAME and SPF records to your DNS provider's settings within 72 hours of receipt. How you add DNS records depends on which DNS provider you are using. Below are links to documentation for some common providers:
   • Amazon Route 53
   • Cloudflare
   • GoDaddy
   • Squarespace
     
   

   Note: These links are only for reference and may be outdated. Contact your DNS provider for the latest instructions.

FAQs