Summary
The upcoming Gmail inactive account purge is widely expected to result in a temporary increase in hard bounces as outdated email addresses are removed from the system. Experts and marketers emphasize that this event should not significantly impact senders who already maintain good list hygiene practices, including regular cleaning to remove inactive subscribers. Key recommendations include implementing strong bounce management processes, strengthening double opt-in procedures, and adjusting segmentation and personalization strategies. From the technology side, leveraging tools like Require-Recipient-Valid-Since is helpful, and ESPs should also enhance the list-cleaning tools that they offer. The consensus is that the purge is a positive development for the overall email ecosystem, promoting better data privacy and improved sender reputation. Google also does not use Spamtraps.
Key findings
- Bounce Rate Spike: Expect a short-term rise in hard bounce rates due to the invalidation of old addresses.
- Good List Hygiene is Key: Maintaining a clean, engaged email list is crucial for mitigating negative impacts.
- Reputation Benefits: List cleaning efforts will lead to an improved sender reputation and better deliverability.
- Data Quality Focus: Emphasis on double opt-in and accurate segmentation will improve data quality.
- Positive Ecosystem Effect: The purge is viewed as a beneficial step towards a healthier email landscape.
Key considerations
- Bounce Monitoring: Implement or refine automated systems to manage and respond to email bounces effectively.
- Double Opt-In Practices: Strengthen or implement double opt-in to ensure recipients actively consent to receive emails.
- Segmentation Adjustment: Adjust personalization efforts to focus only on engaged users for more accurate targeting.
- List Segmentation: Utilize proper list segmentation
- Privacy Considerations: Comply with data privacy as users clean up old accounts.
- ESPs enhancement of cleaning tools: Utilize enhanced list cleaning tools
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
The Gmail inactive account purge is anticipated to cause a temporary increase in bounce rates as older, deliverable addresses become invalid. Email marketers emphasize the importance of proactive list hygiene, permission-based marketing with explicit consent, and robust bounce management processes. The purge reinforces the need for segmentation and personalization strategies based on engagement levels, and for ESPs to enhance list-cleaning tools. The move improves the overall email ecosystem, while also helping data privacy and sender reputation.
Key opinions
- Bounce Rate Increase: A temporary rise in bounce rates is expected as previously valid addresses become inactive.
- List Hygiene: Maintaining clean and up-to-date email lists is crucial to minimize the impact of the purge.
- Sender Reputation: Cleaning lists and focusing on engaged subscribers improves sender reputation.
- ESPs Enhancement: ESPs should enhance list cleaning tools to easily segment and remove inactive users.
- Ecosystem Health: The purge will lead to an overall healthier email ecosystem
Key considerations
- Bounce Management: Implement robust bounce management processes to handle the expected increase in bounces.
- Segmentation: Adjust segmentation strategies to target only engaged users and avoid personalization errors.
- Double Opt-In: Implement or strengthen double opt-in processes to ensure you only collect valid and engaged email addresses from the start.
- Data Privacy: Prepare for a potential increase in unsubscribe requests as users clean up old accounts.
- Cleaning tools: Use better ways to segment, identify, and remove inactive users.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Sendinblue responds that the purge highlights the significance of permission-based email marketing. Acquiring explicit consent from subscribers ensures that your email list consists of engaged users, reducing the likelihood of sending to inactive accounts.
8 May 2023 - Sendinblue
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel explains that Google's new inactive account policy could impact your email list. It emphasizes the importance of regularly cleaning your email list to remove inactive subscribers and maintain a healthy sender reputation.
31 Jul 2022 - Neil Patel
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Experts generally agree that Gmail's inactive account purge should not cause major operational issues for email senders and CRMs that practice good list hygiene. Hard bounces are expected, providing clearer data about inactive accounts. Regular list cleaning is essential, and attempting re-engagement campaigns with accounts inactive for over two years is unlikely to be successful. Some individuals may lose access to accounts tied to Gmail addresses.
Key opinions
- Minimal Impact: The purge should not significantly affect senders who already maintain clean email lists.
- Hard Bounces: Expect a spike in hard bounces, providing accurate data on inactive accounts.
- Data Feedback: Senders will receive direct feedback from Google regarding abandoned accounts.
- Limited Re-engagement: Re-engaging accounts inactive for over two years is unlikely to work.
Key considerations
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists by removing inactive addresses.
- Respect Bounces: Promptly remove bounced email addresses from your mailing lists.
- Metric Evaluation: If the purge impacts your metrics, re-evaluate the metrics you are measuring.
- Account Access: Consider that some individuals may lose access to accounts tied to inactive Gmail addresses.
- Stay Calm: Remain calm and avoid overreacting to the purge.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that an increase in hard bounces to inactive accounts is not a major concern and that these addresses should have been removed from lists long before a two-year inactivity period.
7 Jul 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks states that Gmail's purge of inactive accounts is not unusual and shouldn't affect operations. It might cause panic for those who don't understand their list demographics or reporting. If it impacts your metrics, you’re probably measuring the wrong metrics.
14 Jan 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Google's deletion of accounts unused for two years will cause hard bounces. Senders can leverage Require-Recipient-Valid-Since for identifying outdated addresses. Sender score and reputational systems can impact throttling. Best practices in bounce management is critical. And Spamhaus notes Google does not use Spamtraps.
Key findings
- Account Deletion: Google is deleting accounts inactive for 2+ years, impacting various services.
- Hard Bounces: The policy change will result in more hard bounces for email senders.
- Address Validation: Require-Recipient-Valid-Since can help identify and remove outdated addresses.
- Reputation & Throttling: Sender score and reputation systems can affect email delivery speeds (throttling).
- No Spamtraps: Google does not use Spamtraps
Key considerations
- Bounce Handling: Establish effective automated bounce management procedures.
- Email Validation: Implement mechanisms to validate recipient addresses regularly.
- Reputation Monitoring: Monitor sender scores and reputation to avoid throttling.
- List Maintenance: Regularly clean your email lists to remove invalid or inactive addresses.
Technical article
Documentation from RFC Editor details how Require-Recipient-Valid-Since can be used, it specifies the addition of a timestamp to email messages, indicating how recently the recipient address has been validated. This allows senders to identify and remove outdated or invalid addresses, enhancing deliverability and reducing the impact of inactive accounts.
9 Nov 2021 - RFC Editor
Technical article
Documentation from Xfinity shares details of how a table can be used to determine the amount of emails/connections allowed based on a sender score and reputational system, which may cause throttling to occur. This has implications for the time it takes to reach the inbox.
28 Nov 2023 - Xfinity
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