Why Emails Are Marked as Spam or Bounced and What It Means for You
Email deliverability is essential for effective client communication, but issues like spam and bounced emails can be frustrating, especially with correct addresses and messages received on platforms like Outlook, Gmail, or Yahoo. This guide explains why these statuses occur, their potential to be permanent, and how to prevent them while safeguarding your domain and IP reputation. Keep reading to learn more!
Click on the links below to quickly navigate to a section in this article:
Understanding Bounced and Spam Emails
- Spam Status: This occurs when either the recipient or their email provider marks the email as spam. This can happen for various reasons, including the content of the email or the sender's reputation.
- Bounced Email: A bounced email means that the message was undeliverable. The FMG system marks an email as Bounced after three consecutive failed attempts. Bounces can be either a hard or soft bounce:
- hard bounce: The email address is permanently closed and not receiving messages.
- soft bounce: A temporary issue, such as server outages or a full inbox.
Reasons for Bounced Emails:
- The email address doesn't exist.
- The recipient's inbox is full.
- Temporary server outages.
- Poor sender reputation due to spam complaints.
- Flagged content within the message.
- Strict security settings of the recipient's email provider.
Permanent Status of Bounced and Spam Emails in FMG:
- Once an email address is marked as bounced or flagged as spam in the FMG system, the status is irreversible. This is to prevent damage to the reputation of associated domains and IP addresses.
- To continue sending emails to a contact, a new email address must be added to the contact in FMG.
Common Industry Practices
In the world of email communication, maintaining a strong sender reputation is crucial for ensuring successful message delivery. FMG's practices are designed to protect this reputation by preventing potential harm to associated domains and IP addresses. These measures are not unique to FMG; they align with broader industry standards upheld by major email providers. Here are some common industry practices:
Sender Reputation
- All major providers assess the sender's reputation based on factors like past sending behavior, spam complaints, and engagement rates. A poor reputation can lead to emails being marked as spam.
Content Analysis
- Providers analyze email content for spammy characteristics, including suspicious links, excessive images, and certain keywords. Emails failing these checks may be filtered as spam by email providers.
User Feedback
- User actions, such as marking emails as spam, play a significant role in shaping future filtering decisions in an inbox. These user actions can also affect your sender reputation.
How do most major email providers handle email statuses?
Major email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo have established processes and standards for handling email statuses such as spam and bounced emails. Here’s an overview of how these providers typically manage these statuses:
Gmail
-
Spam Detection:
-
Gmail uses a combination of machine learning algorithms and user feedback to detect spam. Emails that resemble known spam patterns or contain certain flagged content are automatically moved to the Spam folder.
-
Users can manually mark emails as spam, which contributes to Gmail's learning process, helping it better identify similar emails in the future.
-
-
Bounce Management:
-
Gmail differentiates between hard and soft bounces. Hard bounces are due to permanent delivery failures, such as invalid email addresses, while soft bounces are temporary issues like a full inbox.
-
Gmail attempts to resend emails that encounter soft bounces, but after repeated failures, the status may be updated to a hard bounce, similar to how FMG manages bounces
-
Outlook
-
Spam Filtering:
-
Outlook employs a multi-layered filtering system to identify spam, including content filtering, sender reputation analysis, and user feedback.
-
Users can mark emails as junk, which informs Outlook's filtering algorithms.
-
-
Bounce Handling:
-
Similar to Gmail, Outlook recognizes both hard and soft bounces. For soft bounces, it will attempt multiple deliveries before marking them as undeliverable, similar to how FMG manages soft bounces.
-
Resource: Overview of the Junk Email Filter
Yahoo
-
Spam Management:
-
Yahoo Mail detects spam filtering technologies and pattern recognition. It also relies on user reports to refine its spam detection capabilities.
-
Users have the option to mark emails as spam, which influences Yahoo's spam filtering algorithms.
-
-
Bounce Processing:
-
Yahoo distinguishes between hard and soft bounces. It provides clear error messages for hard bounces, allowing senders to understand the nature of the delivery failure.
-
Soft bounces are retried multiple times, but persistent issues will eventually result in a hard bounce status. This is similar to how FMG handles bounce statuses.
-
Resource: Manage spam and mailing lists in Yahoo Mail
Preventative Measures
There are a few things you can do to prevent bounced and spam email statuses. Here are a few options:
Keep Your Contact List Clean
- It is recommended to only use lists with contacts you know the source of and avoid using purchased lists.
- As we learned earlier, major email providers set spam thresholds, so if your content is being marked as spam at a higher rate, it could harm your overall email reputation.
- Low engagement rates can also impact email deliverability. So, send high-quality content less frequently!
Remove or update invalid email addresses
- If 3 out of 10 emails bounce in a contact list, the remaining 7 are less likely to be delivered. Update or remove invalid and bounced email addresses for better results. Poor list hygiene can increase bounce and spam rates, decreasing overall delivery.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) Verification
- This process helps authenticate your emails, reducing the chances of them being marked as spam or bouncing. Ensure your email is verified through FMG to enhance deliverability.
Safe Sender List
- Encourage your contacts to add your email address to their safe sender list. This will help their email provider know that your address is safe and will prevent it from automatically marking your content as spam.
📚 Want to know more about preventative measures to ensure email deliverability? Check out this related article: Email Deliverability
FAQs:
- Q: Why are some emails marked as bounced or spam even though the addresses are correct?
- A: Emails can be marked as bounced or spam due to various factors, such as the recipient's email provider settings, flagged content, or poor sender reputation. Even if the email addresses are correct, these factors can still lead to such statuses.
- Q: Why are bounced and spam statuses permanent in FMG?
- A: These statuses are permanent to protect the reputation of all associated domains and IP addresses. Continuing to send emails to addresses marked as bounced or spam can harm sender reputation, impacting email deliverability.
- Q: Can I continue sending emails to a contact whose status is bounced?
- A: No, once an email address is marked as bounced, it is considered unsubscribed in the system. To continue communication, a new email address is required for that contact.
- Q: Will scheduled emails still be sent if a contact's status changes to bounced?
- A: Scheduled emails will appear in the email history if they were scheduled before the status change, but the email will not be sent. You cannot schedule new emails to that contact after the bounce date.
- Q: How can I prevent my emails from being marked as spam or bouncing?
- A: Verifying your email through the SPF process and encouraging recipients to add your email to their safe sender list can help. However, it does not entirely eliminate the risk, as other factors may still cause emails to bounce or be flagged as spam.
💡 Looking for more information on email deliverability or email verification? Check out these related help articles: