Does IP address location affect email deliverability?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 12 Jul 2025
Updated 15 Aug 2025
5 min read
When delving into the complexities of email deliverability, a common question arises: does the physical location of your IP address truly impact whether your emails reach the inbox?
The short answer is nuanced. While factors like IP reputation, sender practices, and authentication protocols far outweigh geographic location, there have been instances where IP address location played a minor role.
This article will explore how IP location fits into the broader email deliverability landscape, examining its historical influence, current relevance, and what truly matters for inbox placement.
The nuanced role of IP geolocation
In the past, some mailbox providers (MBPs) might have implemented stricter throttling or filtering based on the geographic location of an IP address. For example, a US-based provider receiving emails from a European IP might have applied a default, more cautious approach.
This was often a resource-saving measure, assuming that most of their US-based users wouldn't receive a high volume of legitimate emails from overseas IPs. However, as global email traffic patterns evolved, this mentality became less practical for major providers. Many have since moved away from such broad, location-based filters.
While large international providers generally don't heavily penalize based purely on IP location today, some smaller or regional ISPs might still retain some degree of geographic preference in their filtering algorithms. This is why it's always critical to monitor your deliverability performance across various ISPs and regions.
Best practices for IP location
While IP location is generally not a primary factor, consider these points to ensure optimal deliverability:
Audience proximity: If the vast majority of your audience is in a specific geographic region, having your IPs in a proximate data center can sometimes offer a marginal benefit for some smaller, regional ISPs, though it's not a universal rule.
Provider choice: Choose an email service provider (ESP) with a strong reputation and infrastructure, as their overall network and practices will have a far greater impact than the specific IP's country.
Observe throttling: If you notice significant throttling or delivery issues specifically for a certain region, despite good sending practices, it might be worth investigating if a regional IP would alleviate the issue.
IP reputation reigns supreme
While IP location plays a minor part, it is crucial to understand that IP reputation is the cornerstone of email deliverability. Mailbox providers assess the trustworthiness of an IP address based on its past sending behavior.
A good IP reputation is built on consistent sending volume, low spam complaints, minimal bounce rates, and the avoidance of spam traps. Conversely, a poor IP reputation, often due to spammy behavior or shared IP issues, can severely impact your inbox placement and lead to your emails being directed to the spam folder or even blocked. Understanding what factors influence IP reputation is essential for maintaining strong deliverability.
Whether you use a dedicated IP or a shared IP pool significantly influences your IP reputation. With a shared IP, your sending reputation can be affected by other senders using the same IP, potentially leading to deliverability issues if they have poor practices. For high-volume senders, a dedicated IP address offers more control, but it requires careful IP warming to build its reputation gradually.
Dedicated IP addresses
Control: Your sending reputation is solely your responsibility. It's not influenced by other senders' practices.
Visibility: Easier to monitor your IP and diagnose deliverability issues specific to your sending.
Warming: Requires a dedicated IP warm-up strategy to build a positive reputation with mailbox providers over time.
Shared IP addresses
Cost-effective: Often included with email service plans, suitable for lower sending volumes.
Risk sharing: Your deliverability can be impacted by the sending practices of other users on the same IP (e.g., if they end up on an email blacklist or blocklist).
No warming: Typically, shared IPs are already warmed up, so no manual warming is needed.
Key technical factors beyond location
Beyond IP location and even IP reputation, several technical factors are fundamental to strong email deliverability. These elements provide critical signals to mailbox providers about the legitimacy and trustworthiness of your emails. Without them, even the best IP reputation can falter.
Authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are paramount. These DNS records verify that your emails are legitimately sent from your domain, preventing spoofing and phishing. A lack of proper implementation for these protocols is a major red flag for ISPs and will severely impact your deliverability, regardless of IP location.
Maintaining a clean email list and avoiding spam traps is also critical. High bounce rates due to invalid addresses, or hitting spam traps, signal poor list hygiene and can quickly damage your IP and domain reputation. Mailbox providers prioritize senders who demonstrate responsible mailing practices.
Factor
Description
Impact on Deliverability
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
DNS record specifying authorized sending IPs for your domain.
Policy for handling emails that fail SPF or DKIM alignment.
Guides recipients on how to treat unauthenticated mail, leading to better protection and inbox placement.
rDNS (Reverse DNS)
Maps an IP address back to a domain name.
Mail servers often check rDNS for legitimacy; missing or mismatched records can hurt deliverability.
Regional considerations and ISP policies
While most major global mailbox providers have advanced beyond simple IP geolocation filtering, some regional or national ISPs, particularly in certain parts of the world, might still employ stricter rules.
For instance, sending email to China can be notoriously challenging, with unique regulations and filtering systems that might consider IP origin among other factors. This isn't necessarily about IP location in isolation, but about how it interacts with the specific policies of different countries and ISPs.
However, as seen with some US providers that once considered geolocation more heavily, the trend is towards more sophisticated, behavior-based filtering. The aim is to distinguish legitimate senders from spammers, rather than blanket-blocking based on geographic origin. This is a positive development for senders, as it promotes fairer evaluation based on actual sending practices.
Summarizing IP impact on deliverability
IP address location has a marginal effect on email deliverability, especially compared to the overwhelming influence of IP reputation and adherence to email authentication standards.
Focusing on building and maintaining a strong sender reputation through consistent, desired sending behavior, proper email authentication, and diligent list management will yield far greater returns for your inbox placement than worrying about the continent your IP is hosted on.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Maintain a healthy sender reputation by sending relevant, wanted emails to engaged recipients.
Implement strong email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for all sending domains.
Regularly monitor your email deliverability metrics and IP blocklist status.
For high-volume sending, consider a dedicated IP and follow a proper IP warm-up strategy.
Common pitfalls
Neglecting sender reputation can lead to emails landing in spam folders.
Failing to implement proper email authentication leaves your domain vulnerable to spoofing.
Sending to unengaged or old lists increases bounce rates and spam complaints.
Ignoring IP blocklist listings can severely impact email deliverability.
Expert tips
Your domain's reputation is often weighted more heavily than IP reputation by major ISPs.
Continuously cleaning your email list is crucial for long-term deliverability success.
Engage in two-way communication to build a positive sender-recipient relationship.
Set up DMARC monitoring to gain visibility into your email authentication results.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they were unaware that IP location could influence inbox placement, finding the information quite insightful.
2020-06-09 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that deliverability is more dependent on the email service provider's reputation and practices than the IP's physical location.
