How does Google Postmaster Tools track domain reputation and handle subdomains?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Gmass explains the importance of email authentication, and that Google will track unauthenticated mail and that it is a key factor in tracking domain reputation.
Email marketer from SparkPost Blog responds by sharing that while Google Postmaster Tools provides overall domain reputation, it's crucial to monitor subdomains separately if they handle distinct email streams. Different subdomains might have varying sender reputations based on their sending practices.
Email marketer from SendGrid Blog shares that Google Postmaster Tools tracks domain reputation based on various factors, including spam complaints, email authentication, and engagement metrics. Maintaining a good sender reputation is vital for ensuring high deliverability rates to Gmail inboxes.
Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that they experienced the same issue of wanting to test subdomains, and they shared that you should setup each subdomain as their own source in GPT to monitor all the traffic.
Email marketer from Litmus summarises the various factors, including spam complaints, email authentication, and engagement metrics which Google postmaster tools uses to monitor sender reputation.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that Google Postmaster Tools allows you to monitor the reputation of individual subdomains. They suggest setting up each subdomain in Postmaster Tools to get granular data on its performance, especially if subdomains are used for different email types (e.g., marketing vs. transactional).
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that once you register the main domain on GPT, the sub-domains can get added easily without any code verification and you have to add sub domains if you want to track different sub domains having different IPs.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that each subdomain's reputation is treated independently by Gmail. Therefore, if one subdomain has poor sending practices, it won't necessarily impact the reputation of other subdomains.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Google applies reputation individually to each subdomain and recommends monitoring all three subdomains.
Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog responds that monitoring your sender reputation through Google Postmaster Tools is essential for identifying issues that may affect email deliverability. This includes checking spam complaints, authentication status, and traffic patterns.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that email volume is a crucial factor in establishing and tracking domain reputation in Google Postmaster Tools. Consistent sending volumes enable Google to accurately assess sender behavior and assign reputation scores.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that Google Postmaster Tools defaults to tracking by the d= value in the DKIM signature and it has nothing to do with the sending domain or sending IP. Google will track each domain reputation in the from: line as well, but you just don’t get that data.
Expert from Word to the Wise answers, sharing that Google has different thresholds for different verticals/types of mail, and volume requirements for specific reputation levels (so you might only see red/yellow/green at volume X).
Expert from Email Geeks confirms that adding a subdomain is automatic if the domain is authenticated and you’re logged in.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC 4871 answers how DKIM signatures associate an email with a specific domain. The 'd=' tag in the DKIM signature indicates the domain responsible for the email, which Google Postmaster Tools uses for tracking domain reputation.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that the tool provides insights into your domain's reputation with Gmail users, including spam reports, feedback loop, and authentication metrics. It helps you identify potential issues affecting your email deliverability.
Documentation from DMARC.org shares that DMARC policy (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) allows domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle unauthenticated email, which affects domain reputation tracked by Google Postmaster Tools.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains how SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication methods impact your domain's reputation with Gmail. Proper authentication ensures that your emails are recognized as legitimate, which can improve deliverability and sender reputation.