Does google apps allow using it's smtp server to send email from my site?

Question

I have a website where only time email is sent is when user forgets password and needs to reset it. Can I use google apps to send this email via php on my site or would I be in violation of google terms?

Thanks

Solution 1

http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=78799

Incoming Mail (IMAP) Server - requires SSL:     imap.gmail.com
Use SSL: Yes
Port: 993
Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server - requires TLS:     smtp.gmail.com (use authentication)
Use Authentication: Yes
Use STARTTLS: Yes (some clients call this SSL)
Port: 465 or 587
Account Name:   your full email address (including @gmail.com) Google Apps users, please enter username@your_domain.com
Email Address:  your full Gmail email address ([email protected]) Google Apps users, please enter username@your_domain.com
Password:   your Gmail password 

I don't think it would be a violation if you're paying for Google Apps. If you have the free one, they limit you to 500 messages per day, and it may violate their terms.

You may want to read their guidelines here: http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81126 or http://www.google.com/policies/terms/ or http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=168383

Solution 2

You can use Gmail to do this as it's a perfectly normal use for email, taking a look at Google's guidelines for bulk mail senders might be a good idea.

Quote:-

There are two important factors that, under normal circumstances, help messages arrive in Gmail users' inboxes:

The 'From:' address is listed in the user's Contacts list. A user clicks 'Not Spam' to alert Gmail that messages sent from that address are solicited.

If you send both promotional mail and transactional mail relating to your organization, we recommend separating mail by purpose as much as possible. You can do this by:

Using separate email addresses for each function. Sending mail from different domains and/or IP addresses for each function. By using these tips, it's more likely that the important transactional mail will be delivered to a user's inbox. Our guidelines are meant to help you build a good reputation within the Gmail system, resulting in continual delivery to Gmail inboxes.

Here's a handy tutorial on how to do it.

Comments

[user7562]

No, I'm not sending bulk mail to google users from my server. I'm sending email from my site VIA google apps email server. I can not find any info if this is ok.

[user7562]

500 would be more than enough for me, but I can't find any information whether or not its ok and within rules to send it in automated faschion from a site.

[toomanyairmiles]

@user7562 So far as I'm aware any website sending transactional emails via gmail would be treated as a bulk mail sender (no matter the type or volume) and have to conform to those rules.

[ionFish]

See here, maybe you'll find it useful: serverfault.com/a/123817

[toomanyairmiles]

@user7562 see updated answer.