SPF - Will softfail get inherited when included?

Question

If I add the SPF-policy v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com -all to my domain, will the -all have some effect or will the ~all from _spf.google.com get "inherited" to my domain?

Answer 1

In short, include will normally just result in a match (if pass) or otherwise a non-match for negative results (or possibly an error in error conditions). The specific action, beyond pass / non-pass, in the included record is irrelevant.

From the include section of the SPF spec:

   +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
   | A recursive check_host() result | Causes the "include" mechanism  |
   | of:                             | to:                             |
   +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
   | pass                            | match                           |
   |                                 |                                 |
   | fail                            | not match                       |
   |                                 |                                 |
   | softfail                        | not match                       |
   |                                 |                                 |
   | neutral                         | not match                       |
   |                                 |                                 |
   | temperror                       | return temperror                |
   |                                 |                                 |
   | permerror                       | return permerror                |
   |                                 |                                 |
   | none                            | return permerror                |
   +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+