How can I manage Feedback-ID headers when using Amazon SES to send emails, especially with Gmail's upcoming sender requirements?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 4 Jul 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
8 min read
With Google's updated sender requirements for 2024 and beyond, understanding how to manage your email headers, especially the Feedback-ID, has become more crucial than ever. Many senders using Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) often wonder how their Feedback-ID headers interact with these new guidelines, particularly when aiming for optimal inbox placement. The concern often revolves around whether SES allows sufficient control over this header for detailed spam complaint reporting.
While Amazon SES does inject its own Feedback-ID to help them monitor compliance and service health, it also provides mechanisms for you to include your own granular data. This capability is vital for senders, especially Email Service Providers (ESPs) or those sending on behalf of multiple clients, to get actionable insights into complaint rates through Google Postmaster Tools. Let's explore how you can effectively manage Feedback-ID headers with Amazon SES to meet Gmail's requirements and enhance your email deliverability.
Understanding Feedback-ID and Amazon SES
Understanding Feedback-ID and Amazon SES
The Feedback-ID header is a crucial component of email feedback loops (FBLs). It's a non-standard header that allows ISPs, like Gmail, to report user complaints (e.g., when a user marks an email as spam) back to the sender. This data is invaluable for maintaining a positive sender reputation and proactively managing your sending practices. Without it, you would lack visibility into subscriber complaints, making it harder to identify and address issues that contribute to high spam rates or being placed on a blocklist (or blacklist).
Amazon SES, as a sending service, adds its own Feedback-ID header to emails sent through its platform. This is primarily for their internal monitoring and to fulfill their responsibilities as an email sending infrastructure. They use it to track compliance and ensure the overall health of their sending network. While this is necessary for AWS, it historically caused some confusion for users who wanted to embed their own specific campaign or customer identifiers within the Feedback-ID for more detailed analysis in Google Postmaster Tools.
The good news is that Amazon SES now supports custom values in the Feedback-ID header. This means you can specify your own unique identifiers that will be included alongside SES's own. This feature allows for granular tracking of complaints and helps you align with the enhanced reporting needs brought by new sender requirements.
How to implement custom Feedback-ID with SES
How to implement custom Feedback-ID with SES
To add custom values to your Feedback-ID header when sending through Amazon SES, you'll utilize message tags. These tags allow you to categorize your email sending and receive more detailed feedback through Postmaster Tools. Amazon SES supports up to two custom values that you can pass as message tags. These tags will then appear in the Feedback-ID header, formatted as X:Y:Z:MyBrand, where X, Y, and Z are SES internal values, and MyBrand would be your custom tag.
Adding custom message tags
You can add custom message tags to your emails when sending via the Amazon SES API (using the SendEmail or SendRawEmail actions) or through the SMTP interface. The tags are specified as name-value pairs, which SES then incorporates into the Feedback-ID header. This allows you to differentiate between various types of emails, such as transactional, marketing, or specific campaign sends.
In this example, campaign_id and customer_type are your custom variables. This provides a powerful way to segment your complaint data in Google Postmaster Tools and pinpoint problematic sending patterns.
Beyond custom tags, another approach is to implement your own DKIM signature alongside the one SES automatically adds. While Amazon SES manages DKIM signing for your verified domains, you can also publish your own DKIM records. This gives you more control and visibility over the Feedback-ID data that is reported back to you, especially in scenarios where you are operating as an ESP.
Meeting Gmail's upcoming sender requirements
Meeting Gmail's upcoming sender requirements
Gmail's new sender requirements emphasize three key areas: strong email authentication, easy one-click unsubscribe, and low spam rates. Properly managing your Feedback-ID headers directly contributes to achieving a low spam rate by providing actionable complaint data. By understanding which campaigns or segments generate complaints, you can promptly remove problematic subscribers and refine your sending practices. This proactive approach helps avoid being added to a blocklist (or blacklist) and maintains your domain's reputation with ISPs like Google.
One-click unsubscribe: Ensure your emails include a List-Unsubscribe header for easy unsubscribing. This is a critical requirement from both Gmail and Yahoo.
Consistent monitoring: Regularly check your domain and IP reputation in Google Postmaster Tools, alongside other analytics. Using custom Feedback-ID values helps you drill down into specific sending streams.
While SES handles the underlying FBL processing, the ability to inject your own identifiers into the Feedback-ID header is key for your internal reporting and debugging. It empowers you to proactively address deliverability issues and demonstrate compliance with Gmail's (and other ISPs') expectations for bulk senders.
Advanced strategies for ESPs and bulk senders
Advanced strategies for ESPs and bulk senders
For Email Service Providers (ESPs) or large bulk senders, managing Feedback-ID headers with Amazon SES requires a nuanced approach. The primary challenge is often about separating complaint data per client or campaign when using shared infrastructure. While SES provides its own Feedback-ID for its internal monitoring, your goal is to extract meaningful insights relevant to your specific operations.
Before custom Feedback-ID
Limited granularity: Complaint reports primarily tied to SES's internal identifiers.
Generic data: Difficulty segmenting complaint data by specific customer, campaign, or email type.
Reactive problem solving: Harder to pinpoint sources of spam complaints, leading to slower remediation and potential blocklist (or blacklist) issues.
After custom Feedback-ID
Enhanced granularity: Leverage custom message tags to identify specific sending streams.
Actionable insights: Detailed complaint data allows for quick identification and suppression of problematic recipients.
Proactive reputation management: Maintain a healthy sending reputation and comply with new ISP requirements, such as Gmail's bulk sender rules.
By actively utilizing SES's custom Feedback-ID feature, you can significantly enhance your ability to monitor and react to user complaints. This level of insight is indispensable for high-volume senders aiming to meet Gmail's stringent new sender requirements, particularly concerning spam rates. It allows you to quickly identify and address segments of your audience that are less engaged or more prone to marking emails as spam, which is crucial for overall deliverability.
Maximizing data for deliverability
Maximizing data for deliverability
Leveraging the Feedback-ID header, especially with custom tags, provides a rich source of data for improving your email deliverability. This data, when analyzed within Google Postmaster Tools, can offer unparalleled insights into recipient engagement and potential issues. It moves beyond simple bounce rates to give you a clear picture of how recipients are perceiving your emails.
In the context of Gmail's new sender requirements, actively monitoring your complaint rates is not just a best practice, but a necessity. A high spam complaint rate is a direct indicator that your emails are not desired by recipients, leading to reduced sender reputation and potentially impacting your ability to reach the inbox. The detailed information from custom Feedback-IDs allows for precise identification of the source of these complaints, whether it's a specific campaign, list segment, or content type.
By integrating Feedback-ID data into your overall deliverability strategy, you can quickly identify and suppress unengaged subscribers, refine your content, and improve list segmentation. This iterative process of sending, monitoring, and adapting is key to achieving and maintaining optimal inbox placement, especially with the evolving landscape of email sender requirements.
Key takeaways
Key takeaways
Managing Feedback-ID headers when using Amazon SES, particularly with Gmail's new sender requirements, is about leveraging the tools SES provides. While SES adds its own identifiers, its support for custom message tags within the Feedback-ID header is a powerful feature that allows you to gain granular insights into your sending performance. This is essential for monitoring spam complaints and proactively managing your sender reputation, ensuring your emails reach the inbox.
By combining robust authentication standards with detailed complaint monitoring via custom Feedback-ID and Gmail's Feedback Loop, you can build a strong foundation for long-term email deliverability success. Regularly analyzing this data empowers you to adapt your sending strategies, maintain low spam rates, and ensure compliance with evolving ISP guidelines.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Actively use SES custom message tags for granular Feedback-ID reporting.
Integrate Feedback-ID data with Google Postmaster Tools for comprehensive analysis.
Maintain meticulous list hygiene to minimize spam complaints, improving overall deliverability.
Ignoring the custom Feedback-ID feature in SES, missing out on valuable data.
Failing to analyze Postmaster Tools data, leading to unaddressed complaint issues.
Not removing users who complain, which can damage sender reputation over time.
Misinterpreting Feedback-ID data or confusing it with other email metrics.
Expert tips
For ESPs, implement a second DKIM signature to gain additional control over complaint data reporting.
Map your internal campaign IDs directly to custom Feedback-ID tags for seamless reporting.
Automate the suppression of users based on FBL complaints to prevent future issues.
Consider how Feedback-ID data integrates with your broader CRM or marketing automation platforms.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they were hitting a roadblock with Feedback-ID in their header info when using SES to send emails, as SES would not let them override the Feedback-ID that was put in by default.
December 22, 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says it is not surprising that SES might use Feedback-ID for compliance monitoring, which could explain why they inject their own header.
Gmail, to report user complaints (e.g., when a user marks an email as spam) back to the sender. This data is invaluable for maintaining a positive sender reputation and proactively managing your sending practices. Without it, you would lack visibility into subscriber complaints, making it harder to identify and address issues that contribute to high spam rates or being placed on a blocklist (or blacklist).
Amazon SES now supports custom values in the Feedback-ID header. This means you can specify your own unique identifiers that will be included alongside SES's own. This feature allows for granular tracking of complaints and helps you align with the enhanced reporting needs brought by new sender requirements.
Google.
Yahoo.
Google Postmaster Tools, can offer unparalleled insights into recipient engagement and potential issues. It moves beyond simple bounce rates to give you a clear picture of how recipients are perceiving your emails.
