Why is my email sending temporarily blocked?

Overview

Google and Yahoo announced in October 2023 that email marketers will be required to authenticate the email addresses they send from and keep spam complaints below 0.2% by February 1, 2024, or risk being blocked by inbox providers like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Microsoft. Read on to learn why sending may be temporarily blocked to specified inbox providers and how to avoid blocks in the future.

In This Guide

Why sending may be temporarily blocked

If your email sends receive too many spam complaints from contacts using a particular inbox provider or you are sending email from an unauthenticated sending domain, Sendlane may pause your ability to send to that inbox provider with that sending domain for 24 hours. Any sender profiles using the blocked sending domain cannot be used to send email to that inbox provider for the duration of the block.
You will see a warning message in your Sendlane account if any of your sending domains are temporarily blocked that will:
  1. Identify the sending domain being temporarily blocked
  2. Identify the inbox provider from which a disproportionate amount of spam complaints originated
  3. Let you know when the block will be lifted

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How do I avoid being blocked in the future?

If the sending domain that was blocked was not authenticated, authenticate it as soon as possible. Unauthenticated sending domains are the biggest risk factor for being temporarily blocked.

If the sending domain that was blocked was authenticated, review the audience and content for the sends that occurred around the time of the block. You may need to create tighter Segments and more relevant content so that contacts are not receiving emails they aren't interested in.

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How do campaigns work when my sending domain is blocked?

When your sending domain is temporarily blocked for a certain inbox provider, campaigns that were in progress when the block began and any that start before the block is lifted will not be sent to contacts who use the specified inbox provider.
For example, let’s say your sending domain is blocked from sending to Gmail. If a campaign audience contains 10,000 contacts, 8,000 of whom use Gmail email addresses, the 8,000 Gmail users will not receive your campaign, but the 2,000 contacts using other inbox providers will receive your campaign.
A list of contacts who did not receive the campaign will appear in the Blocked tab of your campaign report. Emails sent to contacts in the Blocked tab are considered not delivered.

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How do automation email nodes work while my sending domain is blocked?

When a sending profile is blocked, automation email nodes will not be deactivated, but the email will be blocked from sending to contacts using the specified inbox provider at the time of the initial block. contacts using other inbox providers will receive the automation email as usual.
There is no way to resend the email node to contacts who would have received it if the block were not in place. A list of contacts who did not receive the automation email will appear in the Blocked tab of your automation email report:

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How do I get my sending domain unblocked?

See the warning message in your Sendlane account for when your sending domain will be unblocked. There is no way to override or shorten the block period.

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Additional Resources

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