Why is Google not providing bounce codes or explanations when rejecting emails, and what can be done about it?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SparkPost advises monitoring sender reputation, keeping email lists clean, and sending relevant content to avoid being flagged as spam.
Email marketer from Litmus recommends focusing on improving email engagement metrics, like open and click-through rates, which can positively impact deliverability.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that temporary errors cause soft bounces, while permanent errors cause hard bounces, and both should be monitored to maintain sender reputation.
Email marketer from Postmark explains that soft bounces can be due to a full inbox, a temporary server issue, or the email being too large, and that retries are usually attempted.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that DMARC failures can lead to rejections, and advises checking DMARC reports to identify unauthorized use of the domain.
Email marketer from Google Support Community explains that Google may block emails if they suspect spam or abusive content, and recommends checking sender reputation and following best practices for sending emails.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that suspicious email activity within a Google Workspace account, such as sending phishing emails or including problematic URLs, can cause the entire account to be flagged, and advises contacting Workspace support.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign suggests avoiding spam trigger words, using proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and providing an easy way to unsubscribe.
Email marketer from StackOverflow recommends using online tools to check if a domain or IP address is blacklisted, which can cause delivery issues.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests checking the Google Security Console to see what Google thinks of your domain.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor suggests segmenting email lists to send more targeted and relevant content, which improves engagement and deliverability.
Email marketer from Sender Authentication Package recommends utilizing Gmail's Postmaster Tools to monitor domain reputation, spam rate, and other metrics, and adjust practices accordingly.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes that actively monitoring your domain and IP reputation through tools like Google Postmaster Tools is vital for identifying and resolving deliverability issues, even if specific bounce codes are lacking.
Expert from Email Geeks shares experience with Gmail rejecting forwarded emails from Dreamhost due to Google altering the headers in a way that it then doesn't like, and mentions the workaround was to resubscribe directly to Gmail.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Google might not provide explicit bounce codes for privacy or security reasons, especially when dealing with spam or phishing attempts, and suggests focusing on building a good sending reputation.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from DMARC.org explains the different DMARC policies (none, quarantine, reject) and how they instruct recipient mail servers to handle emails that fail DMARC authentication.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs) in Exchange Online provide information about why an email was not delivered and how to fix the issue, also explaining the different types of error codes in use.
Documentation from RFC defines SMTP enhanced status codes which provide more detailed information about delivery issues than traditional codes. It explains the structure and usage of these codes.
Documentation from IETF explains the specifications and technical requirements of SPF records and how email servers use them to verify sender authenticity.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help details possible reasons for email bounces, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC failures, as well as the recipient's server marking the email as spam, and recommends troubleshooting steps.