When Google blocks your emails, a comprehensive approach is required involving immediate action, investigation, technical fixes, and ongoing management. First, 'rest your resources' by halting email sending to Gmail and GSuite for at least 7 days. Investigate sending practices, confirming email activities have stopped and reviewing DMARC reports. Sender reputation is a core problem, often stemming from blocklists or spam history. Improve this with proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), regularly cleaning your email list and removing spam traps. Analyze traffic patterns and engagement. Warm up your IP gradually, sending to engaged users first. Monitor sender reputation using tools and understand bounce codes for insights. Be vigilant for unusual activity, such as list bombing, and wary of quick-fix blocklist removal services. Avoid spam trigger words, provide easy opt-out options, maintain consistent sending volume, and segment your list based on engagement.
13 marketer opinions
When Google blocks your emails, a multi-faceted approach is required. Experts recommend immediately stopping all email sending to Gmail and GSuite addresses for at least 7 days to allow for reputation recovery. Thorough investigation is crucial, including checking if other divisions are sending emails and reviewing DMARC reports to verify. Improving your sender reputation is vital through proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), regular list cleaning to remove inactive subscribers, avoiding spam trigger words, providing easy opt-out options, and sending consistently valuable content. Warm up your IP address gradually by sending initially to engaged users, monitor sender reputation tools, and segment your email list based on engagement. Understanding bounce codes helps diagnose the specific reasons for blocks. Finally, be wary of 'quick fix' blocklist removal services.
Marketer view
Email marketer from EmailGeeks Forum suggests to check IP reputation, remove any spam traps, make sure the sending domain is properly authenticated and check the content for spam triggers.
7 Feb 2024 - EmailGeeks Forum
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares the need to improve your sender reputation by authenticating your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, cleaning your email list regularly to remove inactive subscribers, and consistently sending valuable content.
3 Jun 2024 - Neil Patel's Blog
5 expert opinions
When Google blocks your emails, a crucial first step is to 'rest your resources,' meaning halt sending emails that are being rejected to allow time for any bad practices to fade. Sender reputation issues are the most common cause for delivery problems and must be addressed by analyzing traffic patterns, list quality, and authentication methods. It's critical to understand the reason for the reputation damage before attempting fixes. Diagnose email deliverability by examining bounce messages and error codes to understand why blocks are occurring. Consider the possibility of list bombing attacks as a cause. Be skeptical of blocklist removal services.
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource explains that sender reputation problems are the most common cause of delivery problems for legitimate emailers. To fix this you need to analyze traffic patterns, list quality, and authentication practices and that it's critical to understand the cause of the reputation damage before attempting to correct it.
27 Feb 2023 - Spamresource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks mentions Google's recommendation to "rest your resources" when blocked, interpreting it as stopping sending mail that is being rejected to allow time for bad practices to fade.
14 Jul 2024 - Email Geeks
3 technical articles
When Google blocks your emails, it's often due to a poor sender reputation associated with your IP address or domain, potentially stemming from being on a blocklist or having a history of sending spam. Understanding bounce codes, such as a 550 error, is crucial for diagnosing the cause of delivery failures, as they frequently indicate spam-like characteristics or reputation issues. Proper email authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential for verifying your identity and building trust with receiving mail servers.
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost highlights the importance of proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to verify the sender's identity and improve deliverability. Properly configured authentication helps receiving mail servers trust that the email is legitimate.
27 Dec 2022 - SparkPost
Technical article
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that emails might be blocked due to the sender's IP address or domain having a poor reputation. This can occur if the IP or domain is on a blocklist or has a history of sending spam.
12 Jun 2025 - Google Workspace Admin Help
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