Suped
Summary
The general consensus from experts, marketers, and documentation suggests that resending emails that hard bounced during a Gmail outage is reasonable. This is largely due to the possibility that bounces during the outage were false positives. Google themselves recommended resending emails. However, it's critical to monitor bounce rates, segment resends, and remove addresses that hard bounce again. Suppressing recipients should be temporary, and close attention should be paid to engagement metrics after resending.

Key findings

  • False Positives: Bounces during the Gmail outage were likely false positives, justifying a resend.
  • Google's Recommendation: Google officially recommended resending emails after experiencing delivery issues during the outage.
  • Temporary Issue: Gmail outage is a temporary problem, suggesting suppression should be brief.
  • Widely Accepted Practice: Both marketing and technical documentation largely support the idea of resending in this specific scenario.

Key considerations

  • Monitor Bounces: Closely monitor bounce rates and remove addresses that hard bounce again after resending.
  • Engagement Tracking: Monitor engagement metrics (opens, clicks) to assess the effectiveness of the resend and identify potential deliverability issues.
  • Segmentation: Segment your resends to better track performance and manage any issues that may arise.
  • Error Analysis: Monitor the types of errors received to assess address validity.
What email marketers say
8 marketer opinions
The consensus is that resending emails that hard bounced during a Gmail outage is generally acceptable. Since the bounces may be false positives due to the outage, resending allows delivery to valid addresses. However, it is crucial to closely monitor bounce rates and engagement after resending. Segmenting the resend and removing addresses that hard bounce again is also recommended. If the outage was on Gmail's side, resending might be effective as mailboxes are likely back online.

Key opinions

  • Resending acceptable: Resending emails after a Gmail outage is generally acceptable as the bounces might be false positives.
  • Monitor bounce rates: Closely monitor bounce rates after resending to identify any persistent issues.
  • Engagement: Closely monitor email engagement metrics such as opens and clicks after resending.
  • Segment resend: Segment the resend to better track and manage the process.
  • Google Recommendation: Google has recommended resending emails after delivery issues due to Gmail outages.

Key considerations

  • Validity of bounces: Determine if the bounces were genuinely due to the outage or if they represent invalid addresses.
  • Address removal: Remove addresses that hard bounce again after the resend to maintain list hygiene.
  • Delivery monitoring: Continuously monitor deliverability to ensure resending does not negatively impact sender reputation.
  • Potential for resend: If the bounce was due to google outage and the mailboxes are back online resending could work.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks refers to the Google post on the issue which states, "For users who experienced email delivery issues when sending emails to valid email addresses ending in “@gmail.com”, please re-send your emails." They revalidated all gmail bounces for that period (as per Steve Atkins' advice), not just the specific "does not exist" message and hasn't seen any issues since.
30 Aug 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email On Acid Blog suggests if the outage was on Gmail's side, resending might be effective, but segments the resend and monitors results. Otherwise, the addresses may have moved on.
11 Nov 2022 - Email On Acid Blog
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Experts generally agree that resending emails that hard bounced during a Gmail outage is reasonable. Bounces during the outage may not be genuine, and Google itself recommended resending. Monitoring results and removing addresses that bounce again is crucial. Suppressing recipients should be temporary, as the outage is a short-term problem.

Key opinions

  • False Bounces: Bounces during a Gmail outage might not be real hard bounces.
  • Google Recommendation: Google recommended resending bounced emails after their outage.
  • Temporary Suppression: Suppressing bounced recipients should be temporary due to the short-term nature of the outage.

Key considerations

  • Monitoring Results: Carefully monitor results after resending emails.
  • Remove Repeat Bounces: Remove addresses that hard bounce again after the resend attempt.
  • Error Analysis: Monitor the types of errors returned to understand the bounce reasons.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that, if Gmail had an outage, it's reasonable to retry sending the bounced messages, but to monitor the results and remove any addresses that hard bounce again.
30 Sep 2023 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that bounces during the Gmail outage weren't real and the few that were, will bounce out again.
2 Nov 2024 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Official documentation sources generally recommend resending emails that bounced during a Gmail outage. Google explicitly advises resending, while Mailjet suggests it's safe, especially if the outage was on the recipient's end. RFC standards indicate temporary failures may resolve, making resending viable. AWS documentation, while generally against resending hard bounces, implies it's acceptable in the context of a service outage. Segmentation and monitoring engagement are common considerations.

Key findings

  • Google Recommendation: Google recommends resending emails that bounced due to Gmail issues.
  • Outage Justification: Resending is justifiable when bounces are linked to an outage on the recipient's side.
  • Temporary Failures: SMTP standards suggest temporary failures (4xx errors) can be resolved with resending.

Key considerations

  • Segmentation: Segment resends for better tracking and management.
  • Engagement Monitoring: Monitor engagement after resending to avoid deliverability issues.
  • Soft vs. Hard Bounce: Differentiate between soft and hard bounces; resending is more appropriate for soft bounces or outage-related issues.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Workspace Updates Blog recommends resending emails that bounced due to a recent Gmail issue. They state that users who experienced email delivery issues sending to valid Gmail addresses should resend their emails.
9 Jun 2022 - Google Workspace Updates Blog
Technical article
Documentation from RFC Editor, defining SMTP standards, specifies that temporary failure codes (e.g., 4xx errors) indicate that the message *might* be deliverable in the future. In the event of infrastructure failure, resending may be successful.
30 May 2024 - RFC Editor
Start improving your email deliverability today
Get a demo