Is it possible to use custom code to prevent emails from going to the promotions tab?

Summary

The overwhelming consensus among email experts and marketers is that relying on custom code to bypass Gmail's promotions tab is not a viable long-term strategy. While some minor adjustments to HTML structure or keyword usage *might* have a negligible impact, there is no guaranteed code-based workaround. Gmail's filtering algorithms are sophisticated and constantly evolving, using machine learning and numerous factors, including sender reputation, content quality, user engagement, and proper authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Attempting to "game" the system can be detrimental, potentially leading to your emails being marked as spam and your ESP account being blocked. The key to inbox placement lies in building a strong sender reputation by sending valuable, engaging content that recipients want, segmenting your audience, personalizing your messages, practicing good list hygiene, avoiding spam triggers, and ensuring your emails are mobile-friendly. Essentially, focus on being a responsible and trustworthy sender who prioritizes the user experience.

Key findings

  • Code Ineffectiveness: Custom code is not a reliable solution for avoiding the promotions tab.
  • Google's Adaptability: Gmail's algorithms are constantly evolving, making code-based tricks obsolete.
  • Reputation Is Paramount: Sender reputation is the most significant factor in inbox placement.
  • Multifactorial Analysis: Gmail considers numerous factors beyond code, including content, engagement, and authentication.
  • Authentication is Essential: Proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial for establishing credibility.
  • Content is King: High-quality, engaging content is vital for attracting and retaining subscribers.

Key considerations

  • Avoid Scams: Be wary of services promising a guaranteed bypass of the promotions tab with custom code.
  • Don't Game the System: Trying to manipulate the system can lead to negative consequences, such as being flagged as spam.
  • Prioritize Best Practices: Focus on established email marketing best practices, such as list segmentation and personalization.
  • Monitor Your Reputation: Regularly monitor your sender reputation to identify and address any potential issues.
  • Engage Your Audience: Encourage user engagement (opens, clicks, replies) to improve deliverability.
  • Mobile Optimization: Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly for optimal viewing on all devices.

What email marketers say
14Marketer opinions

The consensus among email marketers is that there is no reliable custom code solution to guarantee emails bypass the promotions tab in Gmail. While some HTML structures or avoiding certain keywords might slightly reduce the likelihood, focusing on fundamental email marketing best practices is crucial. Building a strong sender reputation through authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sending valuable and engaging content, personalizing emails, segmenting your audience, avoiding spam trigger words, maintaining list hygiene, optimizing send times, ensuring mobile-friendliness, and fostering user engagement (opens, clicks, replies) are the most effective strategies.

Key opinions

  • No Code Guarantee: Custom code cannot guarantee emails will avoid the promotions tab.
  • Reputation Matters: Building a strong sender reputation is crucial for inbox placement.
  • Content is Key: Sending valuable and engaging content improves deliverability.
  • Authentication: Proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is essential.
  • Engagement Counts: User engagement (opens, clicks, replies) significantly impacts inbox placement.
  • Personalization: Personalization and segmentation are important.

Key considerations

  • Avoid Scams: Be wary of services claiming they can bypass promotions tabs with code.
  • Balance Content: Avoid excessive images and links to prevent triggering spam filters.
  • Mobile-Friendly: Ensure emails are mobile-friendly for optimal viewing and engagement.
  • Use Recognizable From Name: Make sure you send from a sender name that your recipients recognize.
  • IP Warmup: Gradually warm up new IP addresses to establish a sender reputation.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailchimp advises to ensure your 'from' name is one your subscribers recognise as the messages will be filtered if a subscriber cannot recognize where it's coming from.

November 2021 - Mailchimp
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks warns trying to outsmart google will always come back to bite you.

October 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sender.net highlights the importance of avoiding spam trigger words in email content. They provide a list of words and phrases that are commonly flagged by spam filters.

March 2021 - Sender.net
Marketer view

Email marketer from Hubspot suggests that you should segment your email lists to ensure that your messages are relevant to each subscriber's interests.

October 2024 - Hubspot
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks warns against using certain code to avoid the promotions tab. States clients WILL be blocked and will lose their ESP accounts.

December 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailOctopus explains that personalization and segmentation are key to avoiding the promotions tab. They advise sending targeted emails to smaller segments of your audience.

December 2021 - EmailOctopus Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue advises to ensure your emails are mobile-friendly, as many users check their email on mobile devices. Poorly formatted emails can lead to lower engagement and potential filtering.

April 2021 - Sendinblue
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet suggests best practices for email deliverability, which indirectly helps in avoiding the promotions tab. This includes using a dedicated IP address, warming up the IP, and monitoring sender reputation.

October 2022 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus explains that user engagement (opens, clicks, replies) is a crucial factor in determining email placement. They recommend focusing on creating engaging content and optimizing send times.

June 2023 - Litmus
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks states 'No' to the suggestion of custom code preventing emails from going to the promotion tab. Recommends to not pay attention to scammers.

January 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Quora states that while some techniques like using specific HTML structures or avoiding certain keywords might reduce the likelihood of emails landing in the promotions tab, there's no guaranteed method using custom code to completely bypass Gmail's filtering system.

September 2021 - Quora
Marketer view

Email marketer from Gmass explains that building a strong sender reputation through consistent sending habits and good email practices is essential for inbox placement. They recommend warming up new IP addresses.

January 2025 - Gmass
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit suggests focusing on sending valuable, engaging content to subscribers and optimizing email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to improve deliverability. They say that focusing on sending high quality emails improves reputation.

July 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign suggests avoiding excessive use of images and links in emails, as this can trigger spam filters. They recommend using a balanced ratio of text to images.

December 2024 - ActiveCampaign

What the experts say
6Expert opinions

Experts agree that relying on custom code to bypass the promotions tab is not a sustainable strategy. Google's algorithms are constantly evolving, rendering such techniques ineffective and potentially harmful, even referencing one dated technique called "hashbusting". Inbox placement hinges on a multitude of factors beyond code, including robust authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining a positive sender reputation, practicing good list hygiene, delivering high-quality content, and fostering genuine user engagement. Ultimately, focusing on being a responsible and trustworthy sender is the most reliable approach.

Key opinions

  • Code Ineffectiveness: Custom code solutions are not reliable or sustainable for avoiding the promotions tab.
  • Algorithm Evolution: Google's algorithms adapt, quickly nullifying any code-based tricks.
  • Multifactorial Inbox Placement: Inbox placement depends on a complex interplay of factors beyond code.
  • Reputation Matters Most: Building and maintaining a positive sender reputation is crucial.
  • Wanted Mail: Focus on sending mail people want to receive.

Key considerations

  • Avoid Gaming the System: Trying to "game" the system can lead to negative consequences, such as being flagged as spam.
  • Prioritize Authentication: Ensure proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to verify your legitimacy.
  • Focus on Long-Term Strategy: Build a sustainable email marketing strategy based on best practices, not quick fixes.
  • Content Quality: Ensure your content is valuable and engaging to encourage user interaction.
  • List Hygiene: Maintain a clean and up-to-date email list to improve sender reputation.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that trying to game the system can result in ending up in the spam folder. He suggests sending emails people want and encouraging customers to drag emails to the inbox.

August 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) emphasizes the importance of using authentication correctly and ensuring that you are not doing things that will damage your sender reputation. The focus is on being a good sender.

February 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says that if someone "cracked the code," Google will simply change the code the next day.

January 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from SpamResource.com explains that inbox placement isn't just about code; it's a complex interplay of factors including authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sender reputation, list hygiene, content quality, and user engagement.

January 2024 - SpamResource.com
Expert view

Expert from SpamResource.com states that focusing on sending wanted mail and building a good reputation are the only ways to avoid the promotional tabs in the long term. They advise that you cannot 'trick' your way into the inbox.

October 2021 - SpamResource.com
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks identifies the anti-filter technique as hashbusting, a very old technique.

October 2021 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

The documentation indicates that Gmail's filtering process is complex and relies on several factors, including sender reputation, content, user engagement, and machine learning. DMARC helps prevent spoofing and phishing, thus improving sender reputation, while SPF and DKIM are crucial for authenticating emails and ensuring they are not tampered with. Therefore, a comprehensive approach focusing on authentication and reputation is essential for optimal email deliverability and inbox placement.

Key findings

  • Multi-Factor Filtering: Gmail filters emails based on sender reputation, content, user engagement, and machine learning.
  • DMARC Importance: DMARC helps prevent email spoofing and phishing, enhancing sender reputation.
  • SPF Authentication: SPF authenticates the sending server, confirming its authorized to send email on behalf of the domain.
  • DKIM Integrity: DKIM provides a digital signature, ensuring the email's content has not been altered during transit.

Key considerations

  • Holistic Approach: Focus on a holistic approach by optimizing sender reputation, content, and user engagement.
  • Implement Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails and prevent spoofing.
  • Monitor Reputation: Monitor your sender reputation to identify and address any potential issues promptly.
  • Stay Updated: Stay informed about changes to email filtering algorithms and best practices.
Technical article

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC helps prevent email spoofing and phishing, which can improve sender reputation and reduce the chances of emails being filtered into spam or promotions tabs.

July 2021 - DMARC.org
Technical article

Documentation from RFC details the technical specification for SPF records. Implementing SPF correctly authenticates the email's origin and improves deliverability.

January 2024 - RFC
Technical article

Documentation from DKIM explains how to implement DKIM to digitally sign your emails, which improves authentication and helps prevent tampering.

June 2023 - DKIM.org
Technical article

Documentation from Google Support explains that Gmail filters emails based on various factors, including sender reputation, content, and user engagement. Google also use Machine Learning.

July 2023 - Google Support