How can I track email traffic sources using Google Postmaster Tools and DMARC reports?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Valimail explains that Valimail's DMARC reporting solution provides a user-friendly interface to view and analyze DMARC data, which can help you understand the source of your email traffic, identify authentication issues, and prevent email spoofing.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester shares that services like Valimail, Dmarcian, and EasyDMARC can process DMARC aggregate reports and present the data in an understandable format, enabling you to identify sending sources and authentication issues.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that Google Postmaster Tools allows you to monitor your sending reputation, identify spam issues, and ensure best practices are followed, but detailed traffic sources by email provider are not a direct feature.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises against adding a personal email to the rua field due to being swamped with XML reports, suggesting trusting Valimail instead, or exploring other tools.
Email marketer from GMass explains that by analyzing DMARC aggregate reports, you can identify legitimate email sources and improve authentication processes, resulting in improved deliverability and a better sender reputation with email providers.
Email marketer from Postmark Blog explains that to receive and analyze DMARC reports, you need to set up a mailbox to receive the XML reports, then use a DMARC reporting tool to parse them and gain insights into your email traffic sources and authentication results.
Email marketer from Reddit user shares that analyzing DMARC reports can help identify the sources of your email traffic by examining the sending IP addresses and the organizations associated with them. Third-party tools can parse these reports to visualize the data.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests using DMARC reports to track traffic sources.
Email marketer from MailerCheck advises that continuous DMARC monitoring helps maintain email deliverability by enabling you to identify unauthorized email sources and take steps to block them, which enhances your sender reputation.
Email marketer from SparkPost Blog shares that the source IP addresses present in DMARC reports can be correlated with ESPs or email sending platforms, allowing you to approximate where your traffic is originating from.
Email marketer from EasyDMARC explains that EasyDMARC offers reporting tools that visualize DMARC data, helping you identify all sending sources, understand authentication rates, and take action to improve email deliverability.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that DMARC reports are usually only sent once a day, causing potential delays.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks suggests checking domains and subdomains for DMARC records, as some ESPs might hijack subdomain reporting, creating blind spots in the organization's domain reporting.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends a generic mailbox for RUA/RUF tags since the email in these tags is public.
Expert from Email Geeks responds that anyone can use the Feedback-Id, but Google may not show it for every domain, and the data may not be as granular as hoped.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that while DMARC reports don't directly show traffic sources, analyzing the aggregate reports gives insight into which sending sources are authenticating, thus helping infer where your mail streams are coming from. Third party tools are recommended.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that DMARC aggregate reports, combined with feedback loops from providers, offer insights into traffic origin, authentication performance, and potential abuse.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft explains that understanding SPF records helps in authenticating email sources. While SPF doesn't directly track traffic sources, it's a component of DMARC and helps build a secure email environment.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC reports aggregate data from recipient mail servers about authentication results. These reports can indicate if your emails are being authenticated correctly, but they provide insights based on domain alignment rather than specific email provider traffic.
Documentation from RFC explains that DMARC aggregate reports (as defined in RFC 7489) contain data on the volume of email sent from your domain and the DMARC disposition of those messages (pass/fail). This information can be used to identify potential sources and improve authentication practices.
Documentation from Google Help explains that Google Postmaster Tools provides insights into your email traffic, including spam rate, reputation, and feedback loop, but doesn't directly show which specific email provider the traffic originates from.