Why is Google Partner Program (GPP) reporting spam rejects when no campaigns were sent?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet advises that the 10 main reasons for poor deliverability are: 1. You’re sending emails without permission. 2. You’re using purchased email lists. 3. You don’t have proper email authentication protocols in place. 4. Your sending IPs are blacklisted. 5. Your email content resembles spam. 6. You’re not providing recipients with an easy way to unsubscribe. 7. You’re sending from a shared IP address. 8. You’re not monitoring your sender reputation. 9. You’re experiencing a spam trap hit. 10. Your email open rates are low.
Email marketer from Reddit user EmailNewbie explains that spam filters can be very confusing and erratic. Something can suddenly be flagged even after a long history of emails.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains they also saw a spike on Feb 16 due to a Gmail bounce issue. They extracted all the emails ending with @gmail or @googlemail that bounced that day and resent the newsletter once again.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains how warming sending IPs can often change how Google sees your emails, and can filter it as spam or not.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Google had an issue on 2/15 and 2/16, rejecting legit traffic, which may have contributed to the issue.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that the bounce was a soft bounce with the following record in SMTP log: ```550 5.7.1 [Your sending IP] Our system has detected that this message is likely unsolicited mail. To reduce the amount of spam sent to Gmail, this message has been blocked. Please visit <https://support.google.com/mail/?p=UnsolicitedMessageError> for more information. u5si13059622plg.101 - gsmtp"``` So what we did was that we extracted all bounces with this record and then resent the newsletter.
Email marketer from Litmus explains deliverability as being more than if an email got to the inbox, and whether or not it was considered wanted. Even if your domains are set up correctly, Gmail will still filter emails based on content and reputation.
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid Blog explains that a list bomb attack can cause this behaviour, where many addresses are signed up using your companies name. This is often automated and will show up in reporting as spam.
Email marketer from StackExchange suggests reviewing email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) settings. Even if you're not sending campaigns, incorrect or missing authentication can cause automated emails to be flagged as spam, leading to rejects.
Email marketer from Gmass highlights that email bounces are a normal part of sending emails. There are soft and hard bounces, and repeated soft bounces can eventually be rejected. A bounce rate of over 5% should be investigated.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that GPT could be providing inaccurate data. If there is no other supporting information, it might be best to disregard the GPT data.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that unexpected spam reports can stem from several issues: list hygiene problems (old or unengaged addresses), changes in sending frequency, or recipients forgetting they subscribed. They advise checking list health and recent sending practices.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource, Laura Belgray, explains that transactional emails (like password resets or order confirmations) can still be flagged as spam if they lack clear opt-out options or if the sender's IP address has a poor reputation. She suggests auditing transactional email practices to ensure compliance and user-friendliness.
Expert from Word to the Wise answers that spam filters check many things before delivering email, including Authentication, Content, IP Address reputation, and Domain reputation. If a sender has a poor reputation for any of these, emails can be rejected or sent to the spam folder.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google Support explains that spam complaints are generated when recipients mark your messages as spam. High spam complaint rates can negatively impact your sender reputation and deliverability, even if you are not sending explicit campaigns.
Documentation from RFC-Editor informs of auto-replies sent from automated systems being considered spam if the original emails weren't permitted by the recipient. Automated systems will often filter these.
Documentation from SendGrid explains that Feedback Loops (FBLs) provide data about spam complaints. While you might not be running campaigns, automated emails can trigger spam reports. FBLs help identify the source of those complaints, even if it's from transactional emails or user-triggered messages.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that even if an email is automatically sent, like a newsletter or marketing email, if the recipient didn't explicitly request or agree to it, it's considered unsolicited bulk email (UBE), or spam. Ensure there is an unsubscribe link.