Seeing a spike in bounces, or landing in spam mainly when you email Gmail (Google) recipients? Google applies some of the strictest filtering of any provider, so it is usually the first place sending problems show up. In most cases this is something that can be improved quickly. Here is what causes it and what to check.
Common reasons for bounces or spam placement
Warmup is still ramping up. Brand-new mailboxes and domains need time to build a sending reputation. Sending real campaigns at high volume before warmup has matured is the most common cause of bounces and spam placement.
Sending volume is too high, too soon. Pushing a large number of emails per mailbox per day — especially on newer mailboxes — can trigger throttling and bounces at Google.
Recipient list quality. Outdated, guessed, or unverified addresses produce hard bounces. A high bounce rate from bad addresses harms the reputation of every mailbox sending to them.
Content that looks like spam. Lots of links, images, spammy phrasing, or identical copy sent to many recipients increases the chance of being filtered.
Inactive domains tested alongside active ones. Results can look inconsistent if you are only actively warming and sending from some of your domains while others sit idle.
What to do
Let warmup run fully before scaling. Keep warmup active on every mailbox and give new mailboxes a few weeks of consistent warmup before increasing campaign volume.
Increase sending volume gradually. Ramp up your daily send count over time rather than jumping straight to the maximum.
Verify your recipient list. Run your list through an email verification tool before sending to remove invalid addresses and cut your bounce rate.
Keep your content clean. Use a natural, conversational tone, limit links and images, and vary your copy instead of sending the exact same message to everyone.
Spread sending across your mailboxes. Distributing volume across multiple mailboxes and domains is healthier than overloading a few.
Authentication is handled for you
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and MX are configured and managed for your Maildoso domains automatically, so you do not need to add or edit these records yourself. If a third-party tool flags them, that is usually a difference in how the tool reads our setup rather than a real problem.
Still seeing high bounces?
If bounces or spam placement continue after warmup has matured and your list is verified, contact us with a few examples and we will review your specific account and sending setup with you.