Google Postmaster Tools V2, in both its user interface and API, offers information that they call a “Deliverability Analysis” (or “DeliverabilityStatusVerdict”) which attempts to provide plain language feedback and guidance on how Gmail recipients feel about your email messages. And, if that sentiment is negative, or if you’re failing technical checks, they include information on steps you can take to help address the situation, in hopes of allowing you to be able to maintain (or regain) placement in the inbox.
The API calls this DeliverabilityStatusVerdict. In the Google Postmaster Tools user interface, it is referred to as “Deliverability Analysis.”
This information is valuable feedback to email senders, helping to drive awareness around what’s going on inside the Gmail spam filters. The answer to the question of “Why am I having trouble getting mail delivered to the Gmail inbox” is almost always found in one of these specific “Deliverability Analysis” statuses and explanations.
Here are all of the different messages that populate the “Deliverability Analysis” section of Google Postmaster Tools (V2), which API response each one corresponds to, and what I think you should do in each scenario.
Users signal they want to get your email messages
Users signal they want to get your email messages: User signals are positive. Your messages are delivered to the Inbox with few user complaints, and/or users consistently report misclassified messages as not spam.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: USER_FEEDBACK_POSITIVE.
Al Iverson recommends: Celebration! This is the feedback you want to see. Google acknowledges that you’re a good sender. You’re sending wanted email messages, and recipients are responding favorably.
Not enough outgoing email
Not enough outgoing email: You haven't sent enough email to personal Gmail (@gmail.com) accounts to determine deliverability status for your domain and messages. Common reasons for this are a new domain, a restart in sending after a pause, or a large percentage of messages sent to inactive accounts. For details, visit Postmaster Tools dashboard.
Recommended action: Continue to send email at a steady rate from your domain, and don't increase sending volume too quickly. Check the Deliverability analysis dashboard regularly. For details, visit Postmaster Tools dashboard.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: MESSAGE_VOLUME_LOW.
Al Iverson recommends: Don’t panic. This doesn’t mean Google hates you. It just means they don’t have enough data to make a determination. If you’re building up email volume (as part of a warming process), continue to build up volume over time, slowly and carefully. If not, and things are otherwise going okay, keep on doing what you’re doing.
Be wary of engaging in questionable email practices; small numbers of complaints against small amounts of unwanted mail can result in a high spam complaint percentage rate. Smaller senders often struggle to remediate these issues. In this case, an ounce of prevention will be much more palatable than a pound of cure.
You don’t meet our sender requirements
You don’t meet our sender requirements: Your outgoing emails don’t meet all of Gmail’s mandatory sender requirements. Resolve these issues to help ensure that messages are delivered as expected. Review sender requirements in the email sender guidelines.
Recommended action: Verify that you meet bulk sender requirements. Refer to the Postmaster Tools compliance dashboard and the section Requirements for sending 5,000 or more messages per day in our email sender guidelines.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: SENDER_NOT_COMPLIANT.
Al Iverson recommends: It’s time to get compliant. SPF, DKIM, DMARC, TLS, proper list-unsub headers for marketing messages, these are all very necessary when sending email messages today. If you don’t comply, you’ll have trouble getting to the inbox. (To be clear, proper message headers and authentication alone don’t get you inbox placement. Permission and relevance matters, too. But without those proper technical bits? You’re doomed.)
Recommended action: Verify that you meet bulk sender requirements. Refer to the Postmaster Tools compliance dashboard and the section Requirements for sending 5,000 or more messages per day in our email sender guidelines.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: SENDER_NOT_COMPLIANT.
Al Iverson recommends: It’s time to get compliant. SPF, DKIM, DMARC, TLS, proper list-unsub headers for marketing messages, these are all very necessary when sending email messages today. If you don’t comply, you’ll have trouble getting to the inbox. (To be clear, proper message headers and authentication alone don’t get you inbox placement. Permission and relevance matters, too. But without those proper technical bits? You’re doomed.)
Many messages with delivery errors
Many messages with delivery errors: A significant percentage of your messages have delivery errors, typically a result of a sudden increase in sending volume or issues with your infrastructure. The errors are causing a delivery delay for the affected messages.
Recommended action: Check the SMTP logs for your outgoing emails. If your emails are rate limited, you’ll get SMTP bounce messages with an error code in the format 4.x.x. If your messages are being rejected, you’ll get SMTP bounce messages with an error code in the format 5.x.x. For both issues, reduce your sending rate and check the SMTP bounce messages for more details and instructions. For more details, refer to the section What error messages will you send? In our email sender guidelines FAQ.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: SMTP_ERRORS_HIGH.
Al Iverson recommends: Google’s wording suggests that an unexpected spike in email volume (maybe leading toward them suspicious that you might be emitting spam), but it sounds like the primary focus of this analysis is related to infrastructure misconfiguration. Time to check that infrastructure for failures or misconfiguration. Reverse DNS on your sending IPs, did a DKIM record disappear from DNS, did a subdomain’s A or MX record get deleted, or something similar.
Google is telling you to look at your bounces messages. There will be a specific code, and specific text, that will point you in the right direction, helping you to figure out exactly what may be misconfigured.
Recommended action: Check the SMTP logs for your outgoing emails. If your emails are rate limited, you’ll get SMTP bounce messages with an error code in the format 4.x.x. If your messages are being rejected, you’ll get SMTP bounce messages with an error code in the format 5.x.x. For both issues, reduce your sending rate and check the SMTP bounce messages for more details and instructions. For more details, refer to the section What error messages will you send? In our email sender guidelines FAQ.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: SMTP_ERRORS_HIGH.
Al Iverson recommends: Google’s wording suggests that an unexpected spike in email volume (maybe leading toward them suspicious that you might be emitting spam), but it sounds like the primary focus of this analysis is related to infrastructure misconfiguration. Time to check that infrastructure for failures or misconfiguration. Reverse DNS on your sending IPs, did a DKIM record disappear from DNS, did a subdomain’s A or MX record get deleted, or something similar.
Google is telling you to look at your bounces messages. There will be a specific code, and specific text, that will point you in the right direction, helping you to figure out exactly what may be misconfigured.
Users signal that they don’t want to get your email messages
Users signal that they don’t want to get your email messages: Users frequently report your messages delivered to their inbox as spam and/or don’t report messages to the Spam folder as not spam.
Recommended action: To improve a negative user sentiment, review and manage who you send messages to, how often you send them, and whether recipients want the content you send. Use the Feedback loop to identify sending issues to resolve or improve.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: USER_FEEDBACK_NEGATIVE.
Recommended action: To improve a negative user sentiment, review and manage who you send messages to, how often you send them, and whether recipients want the content you send. Use the Feedback loop to identify sending issues to resolve or improve.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: USER_FEEDBACK_NEGATIVE.
Al Iverson recommends: You’re not engendering enough love from your subscribers. Remember that email success requires sending wanted mail, only to those who have subscribed to it. It’s time to review your send practices and data sources. Purchased lists, excessive email volume to individual recipients, off-brand or out-of-scope and unexpected content, these all lead to unhappy subscribers and it is unhappy subscribers who report your mail as spam. Google notices this. Google does not like this.
Users don’t take action on your messages
Users don’t take action on your messages: We’ve detected minimal user signals for your messages. Recipients don’t take actions that indicate whether they want your messages.
Recommended action: To improve neutral user sentiment, review who you send messages to, how often you send them and whether recipients want the content that you send. Use the Feedback loop to identify sending issues to resolve or improve.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: USER_FEEDBACK_LOW.
Al Iverson recommends: Stop boring your users to death. Snark and joking aside, you’re sending emails to people who just don’t care about your messages. Time to prune that list of inactive subscribers. Time to reconsider what you send, who you send it to, and why.
Recommended action: To improve neutral user sentiment, review who you send messages to, how often you send them and whether recipients want the content that you send. Use the Feedback loop to identify sending issues to resolve or improve.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: USER_FEEDBACK_LOW.
Al Iverson recommends: Stop boring your users to death. Snark and joking aside, you’re sending emails to people who just don’t care about your messages. Time to prune that list of inactive subscribers. Time to reconsider what you send, who you send it to, and why.
Your spam rate is above 0.1%
Your spam rate is above 0.1%: Your user reported spam rate is above the industry standard recommendation of 0.1%.
Recommended action: For best email delivery results, we recommend you always keep spam rates below 0.1%. Spam rate requirement in our Email sender guidelines.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: SPAM_RATE_HIGH.
Al Iverson recommends: This is bad news; it’s like “Users signal that they don’t want to get your messages,” but worse. Something’s significantly wrong with your email sending practices. Do you have explicit and unambiguous permission to email these subscribers? I’m doubtful.
Did you “Deliverability Analysis” results in Google Postmaster Tools other than any of the ones I’ve detailed above? Wondering what to make of it? Feel free to drop me a line.
Special thanks to Florent Destors, Brian Sisolak, and others who have shared details and thoughts regarding GPT V2’s deliverability analysis feedback.
Recommended action: For best email delivery results, we recommend you always keep spam rates below 0.1%. Spam rate requirement in our Email sender guidelines.
GPT API response associated with this analysis: SPAM_RATE_HIGH.
Al Iverson recommends: This is bad news; it’s like “Users signal that they don’t want to get your messages,” but worse. Something’s significantly wrong with your email sending practices. Do you have explicit and unambiguous permission to email these subscribers? I’m doubtful.
Unspecified Reason
There’s also a “REASON_UNSPECIFIED” API response that I’m mentioning here for the sake of completeness, but no further information is available.Did you “Deliverability Analysis” results in Google Postmaster Tools other than any of the ones I’ve detailed above? Wondering what to make of it? Feel free to drop me a line.
Special thanks to Florent Destors, Brian Sisolak, and others who have shared details and thoughts regarding GPT V2’s deliverability analysis feedback.
