Google is one of the biggest companies in the world and it also holds a significant share in the email space. It’s no wonder the search giant continues to maintain excellent security measures to keep its users safe. The Gmail blocklist or Gmail blacklist is one such measure.
The main purpose of this blocklist is to prevent spam, harmful emails, and unsolicited mail originating from shady addresses from landing in user inboxes. Given that Google maintains countless email accounts for its users, it has access to a huge amount of data that it can analyze for malicious or spam messages.
As it gathers information from Gmail users, it begins creating rules that filter out emails with issues. When Google flags a server’s IP address, it will be added to the blacklist, and it won’t be able to send mail anymore.
Besides its own data repository, Gmail can also obtain information from other public blacklists. This means that it can prevent even more unwanted messages from reaching users. This preventive measure is designed to minimize spam as much as possible.
Reasons for Ending up in the Gmail Blocklist
Once you have the affirmation that your IP or email address is indeed blacklisted, you need to understand why it happened in the first place. It’s time to put on your detective hat to figure out why you’ve been added to the Gmail blocklist. From there, you can put a stop to the unwanted behavior so you won’t face blacklist issues anymore.
Generally speaking, Google will block emails based on one of these reasons:
- The volume of your emails suddenly increased (whether you are a new user or not).
- You sent emails that landed on spam traps – nonfunctional email addresses designed to catch spammers.
- You have been added to one of the many email blacklists that Gmail monitors.
- Several Gmail users you emailed have marked your mail message as spam.
- Your latest emails were sent to users you didn’t know.
- Your DNS records aren’t complete or have been incorrectly configured.
- You’ve been using a new IP address or multiple IP addresses when sending your emails.
- You aren’t using email authentication protocols or have failed one of their checks.
If you believe one of these reasons match what you’ve just done recently, then it’s time to put a stop to that behavior. This will help prevent triggering Google’s mailing rules and also expedite the removal of your IP address from their blocklist.
But before you process a request for removal from Gmail, it’s best to check websites like Spamhaus and Abuseat if you’ve been added there. Finding yourself included in one of these sites generally means that spam was detected from your mail server.
Doing so should help you identify the root cause of the spam complaint and resolve it quickly. You can then request to have your IP removed from these blacklists after addressing your spam problem.
Given that security issues are the number one reason why you can be added to a blacklist, it’s important to ensure the following:
- Check and review all logs in your mail servers to find out when you were blocked and what caused it.
- Learn and understand what kind of email behavior you’ve been doing that led to the blacklist inclusion.
- Check to see if any of your user accounts have been compromised.
- Check to see if any of your web applications have been sending out spam messages.
If you believe you haven’t been flagged for any of the above, then you should check for:
- Any sudden changes in your sending volume
- Any changes in the IP address used when sending the emails
- If there are any users auto-forwarding emails to Gmail
Once you’ve fixed the spam issue on your end, it’s time to send a request for removal from Gmail’s blacklist.
How to Get Removed From Gmail Blocklist
Sending bulk emails can easily result in bounces due to being blacklisted by Gmail. If you find yourself receiving these errors, you need to visit Google’s Bulk Email Senders Guidelines page so you can accomplish their Bulk Sender Contact Form.
As you analyze the information presented by the Bulk Sender Guidelines, it’s important to consider the following carefully:
- Email authentication used or not used
- Subscriptions and unsubscribes
- Whether or not the email format is correct
- Any third-party affiliate marketing programs or senders involved
We can help you throughout this tedious blocklist removal process. Schedule a call via our professional Managed Services and one of our experts will be happy to resolve this problem and any other deliverability issues for you.
In case you decide to do this by yourself, you must follow the best practices mentioned above and then you can go ahead and work on the form.
- Input your full name, email address, and the reason for the request.
- Go to the next screen and write a short and long-form version of the problem you’re experiencing.
- Make sure you also insert the headers from emails that triggered the blacklist inclusion. This should help speed up the process of removal.
Keep in mind that Google doesn’t typically respond to submissions and that’s normal. They would still process your request, and if all is well, you can have your IP address removed from their list within 15 days.
How to Keep Out of Blocklists
Staying away from blocklists is far easier to do than requesting for your email address to be removed after being flagged. Spam traps are among the most dangerous emails you can encounter and should be avoided as much as possible.
Besides these traps, you should also consider the following tips:
- Incorporate email opt-in: You shouldn’t send emails to contacts who haven’t given you permission to do so. Although adding an opt-in function to your email campaign will be slower, it results in higher-quality subscribers who have allowed you to send them emails and are more likely to engage with your content.
- Clean your email lists regularly: Keeping your email lists cleaned from unknown, inactive, and unresponsive contacts is crucial to avoid being blacklisted. Sending to legitimate users not only increases your email deliverability but also helps grow your sender reputation.
- Never buy email lists: Building your own email lists organically and in the right way is the best approach to growing your database of subscribers. You should never resort to purchasing email lists since the act is illegal, and a third-party service provider is unlikely to give you the best quality.
- Take out addresses that bounced: Remove any recipient’s email address that resulted in a bounce from your primary mailing list. You can then take them out or move them to a different list for retargeting later on. Continuously receiving bounces is one of the fastest ways to get added to the Gmail blocklist.
- Ensure the contact list doesn’t have typos: Typographical errors are common when people enter their email addresses to subscribe to your campaigns. However, these errors will result in bounced emails that will harm your deliverability and reputation. Make sure all addresses in your lists are correct by verifying them using tools or incorporating the opt-in feature mentioned above.
- Apply email authentication: Email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are some of the best ways you can increase trust in yourself as a sender. These configurations help show that you are a trusted sender and that you’re taking the proper steps to ensure everyone’s safety.
The Gmail blacklist is one of the most dreaded lists you can be added as an email sender. Being included in this list will result in future messages bouncing back and reducing your sender reputation. Furthermore, you’ll also experience lower email deliverability for your campaigns.
To remedy being added to the blocklist, you should send a request for removal from Google itself. From there, you should also take the appropriate steps to avoid these blacklists in the future.
By following the tips provided above, you should be on your way to staying away from the Gmail blacklist and increasing your reputation as a sender.
