How to set up and use Google Postmaster Tools – Examples Included
What are Google Postmaster Tools?
Google Postmaster Tools is a powerful service that helps monitor the quality of your email campaigns sent to Gmail recipients (@gmail.com and @googlemail.com). By analyzing key deliverability metrics, you can ensure your emails reach inboxes and avoid spam folders.
Why use Google Postmaster Tools?
Postmaster Tools helps you determine if you meet Gmail’s email-sending requirements. It provides insights into why emails land in spam, which providers send emails on behalf of your domain, whether warm-up is done correctly, and why emails bounce.
Getting Started with Google Postmaster Tools
Step 1: Create or Use an Existing Google Account
You need a Google Workspace or a free @gmail.com email address. If you don’t have one, create an account here:
Step 2: Access Postmaster Tools
Visit Google Postmaster Tools and login.
Step 3: Add Your Domain
Click “Get Started” or the red “+” icon, then enter the domain you use for sending emails.
📝Note: Enter the domain name without “www” or “https://”.
Step 4: Verify Domain Ownership
You must verify ownership using one of these two methods:
- TXT Record: Add a TXT record to your domain’s DNS settings.
- CNAME Record: Add a CNAME record to your domain’s DNS settings.
Adding a TXT Record to Your DNS
- Log into your DNS provider (e.g., GoDaddy) and navigate to “Manage DNS.”
- Click “Add New Record” and select “TXT.”
- In the “Name” field, enter “@.”
- In the “Value/Record” field, enter the TXT record provided by Postmaster Tools.
- Save your changes.
📝 Note: If you registered a Google Workspace mailbox as an admin, domain ownership verification is not required again.
Step 5: Verify Your Domain
After adding the TXT or CNAME record, wait five minutes, then click Verify.
☕Troubleshooting: If you see a red warning stating “Your DNS TXT verification record was not found,” wait a few minutes and try again. It may take up to 12-24 hours for Google to recognize your DNS changes.
Step 6: Access Your Data
Once your domain is verified, click on it in Postmaster Tools to analyze your email deliverability data.
📝 Note: If you see “No data to display,” ensure you send DKIM authenticated campaigns to at least 1,000 B2C recipients per campaign.
Adding Forsenders as Your Reputation Manager
To allow Forsenders to monitor your domain reputation:
- In “Manage Domains,” hover over the “Added” date.
- Click the three grey dots (“More”) and select “Manage Users.”
- Click the red “+” icon and enter [email protected].
- Click “Next” and then “Done.”
👉Important: Google does not send notifications when you grant access. If you request a reputation audit from Forsenders, inform them directly.
Understanding Postmaster Tools Metrics
1. Spam Rate
This dashboard shows the percentage of recipients who report your messages as spam (abuse).
- Only DKIM authenticated emails are included in this calculation.
- Emails that land directly in spam are not counted in spam rate.
- Keep the spam complaint rate below 0.1-0.3%.
- A higher spam complaint rate is reasonable if you have a very high open rate.
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
Examples from Google Postmaster Tools v2
2. Domain Reputation
Indicates your domain’s reputation based on your sending patterns.
💡Tip: If you use subdomains (e.g., send.forsenders.net for marketing, mail.forsenders.net for transactions), add them separately to track their reputation. If you’ve already added the parent/main domain, you won’t need to verify subdomains with DNS records.
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
Meaning of reputation ratings (Bad, Low, Medium, High)
- Bad: Frequent spam activity. Most of emails are flagged as spam or rejected.
- Low: Regular spam complaints. Emails often land in spam folders.
- Medium: Generally good, but occasional spikes in suspicious activity.
- High: Strong reputation, high open rates, and compliance with Gmail’s sender guidelines. Emails form sender are highly trusted and rarely filtered as spam, ensuring optimal inbox placement.
💡Tip: Spam filters analyze thousands of signals, and domain & IP reputation are just two of them.
If your domain reputation is lower than your IP reputation, analyze your sending quality, fix problems, and improve your reputation with your audience.
3. IP Reputation
This measures the trustworthiness of the IPs sending your emails. A high reputation increases inbox placement, while a bad reputation leads to spam filtering or rejection.
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
You can display a sample of IP ranges from which your emails were sent by clicking on a data point. Example:
4. Feedback Loop
This dashboard tracks spam complaints for email campaigns with a Feedback Loop ID (provided by your bulk email provider). You’ll see data if you send high-volume campaigns (e.g., 50,000+ recipients with a 0.6% abuse rate).
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
Examples from Google Postmaster Tools v2
5. Authentication
Shows whether your emails pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication.
📝 Note: Authentication results also depend on how many recipients forward your messages.
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
Examples from Google Postmaster Tools v2
💡Tip: Use additional tools like GlockApps to monitor your authentication success rate.
6. Encryption
Displays the percentage of messages encrypted with TLS inbound and TLS outbound.
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
Examples from Google Postmaster Tools v2
7. Delivery Errors
Shows the percentage of authenticated messages (SPF or DKIM) that were rejected or temporarily failed.
Examples from Old Postmaster Tools
Examples from Google Postmaster Tools v2
8. Compliance Status
Compliance status dashboard provides insights into compliance with Gmail sender guidelines. Available to bulk senders (sending 5,000+ emails per 24-hour period to Gmail users).
Examples from Google Postmaster Tools v2
📝 Note:
- Compliance data applies only to personal Gmail accounts.
- Updates typically take 24-48 hours.
- The dashboard applies only to primary domains, not subdomains.
- On days with low outgoing email volume, the dashboard might not include all data.
- If compliance status is poor, take corrective actions and allow up to 7 days for improvements to reflect.
Additional Insights
- Postmaster Tools attempts to exclude forwarded messages from reports, but some data may include them.
- Data updates every 24-48 hours, not in real-time.
- Postmaster Tools uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) for reporting.
Stay Informed
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Need help setting up Google Postmaster Tools or improving your email deliverability? Contact us today!
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