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Summary

Accessing shared domains in Google Postmaster Tools can be counter-intuitive compared to other access granting systems. Rather than receiving an explicit invitation or email notification, users often need to manually add the shared domain to their own Google Postmaster Tools account. If the domain owner has already granted access, the domain will automatically verify, allowing the delegated user to view its data without requiring further verification steps like adding TXT records. This streamlined, yet often undocumented, process is key to monitoring email deliverability for domains managed by others.

What email marketers say

Email marketers frequently express surprise and sometimes frustration regarding the non-standard way Google Postmaster Tools handles shared domain access. Many assume a direct email invitation or an automatic appearance of shared domains, leading to wasted time searching for verification prompts or notifications. However, once they discover the simple manual addition method, they appreciate its efficiency, noting that it saves considerable effort compared to a full domain re-verification. This often-undocumented feature highlights the importance of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing within the email community.

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that they initially struggled to see shared domains, only being able to access their own domain within Google Postmaster Tools, without any email alert for shared access.

16 May 2019 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that the way to access shared domains is to add them manually, similar to how one would set up a new domain initially.

16 May 2019 - Email Geeks

What the experts say

Email deliverability experts concur that Google Postmaster Tools' shared access mechanism, while unconventional, is the established method. They confirm that once a domain owner authorizes a user, the recipient simply needs to add the domain to their own Postmaster Tools account for it to become 'magically' verified. Experts highlight that Google consistently polls for these ownership records, ensuring that delegated access remains active for extended periods, sometimes for years, without needing re-authorization or fear of automatic revocation. This underlines Google's backend efficiency despite the front-end user experience being less explicit.

Expert view

Email expert from Email Geeks indicates that if you add a domain to Postmaster Tools without verifying it, but the client then grants you access, it will likely turn into a verified domain over time as Google polls for ownership records.

16 May 2019 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Deliverability expert from Email Geeks shares that they consistently have clients authorize them as a designated user, and Google has never revoked this access, with some domains maintained for many years.

17 May 2019 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says

Google's official documentation for Postmaster Tools primarily focuses on how domain owners can grant access to other users and verify domains, rather than explicitly detailing the steps a recipient must take to view shared data. While it outlines the importance of verifying ownership via DNS records like SPF and DKIM for a domain to report data, it does not clearly describe the 'manual addition' method from the delegated user's perspective. The documentation largely assumes that once access is granted, the user will inherently know how to view the data, which creates a gap in user guidance, leading to confusion among new users or those expecting a direct invitation system.

Technical article

Google for Developers documentation notes that to utilize the Postmaster Tools API, a foundational step involves setting up an authentication domain, which can be either the DKIM or SPF domain associated with the email.

23 Mar 2023 - Google for Developers

Technical article

The official Gmail Postmaster Tools guide explains that users must verify ownership of domains to access data, typically via a DNS TXT record or HTML file upload to the domain's web server.

10 Apr 2023 - Gmail Postmaster Tools Help

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