Why does Google Postmaster Tools not report temp-fail delivery errors correctly?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Neil Patel's website shares that data discrepancies in Google Postmaster Tools can arise from various factors, including delays in data processing, filtering of certain error types, or specific configurations of the sending infrastructure. Understanding these nuances is important for interpreting the tool's insights accurately.
Email marketer from Marketing Agency Website answers that you need to analyze your email logs on your sending server to gain deeper insights into temporary failures. As they might not show in Google Postmaster Tools, logs will provide the specific SMTP error codes and reasons for the failures.
Email marketer from Email on Acid answers that issues related to temporary failure issues typically relate to a number of misconfigurations or domain problems, such as not setting up DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).
Email marketer from Mailjet support shares that temporary failures (temp-fails) might not always be comprehensively reported if they are transient and quickly resolved. The reporting focuses more on persistent issues affecting overall deliverability.
Email marketer from Email Deliverability Blog answers that the configuration of the sending server, the volume of email sent, and the engagement of recipients can all impact temporary failure reports. Smaller senders and transactional emails are likely to be effected more.
Email marketer from StackOverflow answers that the underlying cause is likely not specifically Google Postmaster Tools but instead how they handle SMTP responses. They state the server may be configured in a way that prevents failures from being displayed.
Email marketer from a Marketing Forum answers that you need to check if your IP address is on any known blocklists or has a poor reputation. This can indirectly cause temporary failures, and if your IP has a very poor reputation then it may not be reported accurately in Google Postmaster Tools.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that it's possible Postmaster Tools aggregates data over a certain period, and very short-lived temp-fails might not meet the threshold for reporting. Also suggests investigating SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to ensure they are setup correctly.
Email marketer from Email Provider Comparison Site answers that a possible issue is misconfigured domain authentication protocols. Misconfigured SPF, DKIM or DMARC records can lead to more frequent temporary failures, and Google Postmaster Tools might not always accurately reflect the root cause.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks provides an example of a Gmail rate limit response which includes a 421 error code and a link to Google's Bulk Email Senders Guidelines.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Google Postmaster Tools provides a general overview but is not a comprehensive diagnostic tool. It's designed for high-level monitoring and may not capture granular details of every temporary failure, especially those resolved quickly.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that 447 errors are usually self-generated, meaning the MTA is giving up, not a response from the receiver. This could indicate bandwidth issues rather than a reputation problem with Gmail.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that in his Salesforce days, 447 errors would indicate routing, DNS, or bandwidth issues, rather than an ISP permanently blocking an IP with a 4xx error.
Expert from Word to the Wise answers that the interpretation of SMTP error codes is not standardized across all email systems. This means that what one system considers a temporary failure might be categorized differently or not reported at all by another, leading to inconsistencies in Postmaster Tools.
What the documentation says6Technical articles
Documentation from RFC-Editor explains that the interpretation and reporting of specific SMTP error codes, including those related to temporary failures, can vary between different mail servers and reporting tools. This variability may lead to inconsistencies in what is displayed in Google Postmaster Tools.
Documentation from IETF explains that different servers can implement specific error handling and reporting mechanisms. This can cause inconsistencies across platforms.
Documentation from Google Support explains that Google Postmaster Tools data might not be real-time, and delays can occur in data processing and reporting. This delay could cause temporary failures to not be immediately reflected in the dashboards.
Documentation from MXToolbox answers that their email health checker lets you diagnose issues with your email setup. They state that this can provide insights into potential causes of transient errors and discrepancies in reporting.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that issues with SMTP configuration are a common cause of SMTP problems. Microsoft recommends that users check the SMTP virtual server, verify that the correct IP address and port settings are in place, and confirm that the authentication settings are properly configured.
Documentation from SparkPost answers that understanding the underlying SMTP error codes is essential to be able to accurately interprete the Google Postmaster Tools. SparkPost highlights the common error codes and how to interprete them.