Too many people mark your emails as spam

What it means

Every time a recipient clicks "Report spam" or "Junk", their mailbox provider counts a complaint against your domain and your sending IP. The complaint rate is the number of complaints divided by the number of emails delivered to the inbox. It is the strongest signal providers use to decide whether people want your emails.

Why it matters

• Google and Yahoo ask senders to stay under 0.3% complaints, and Google recommends staying under 0.1%. That is 1 complaint per 1,000 emails.
• Above that, more and more of your emails go to spam, including useful ones like invoices.
• A perfect technical setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) does not compensate for unhappy recipients.

How to check

A test email cannot measure complaints, because they come from your real recipients. Use the providers' own tools:

• Gmail: Google Postmaster Tools shows your spam rate per day once you verify your domain. It needs enough daily volume to show data.
• Yahoo and AOL: the Complaint Feedback Loop sends you a copy of each complaint. Sign up from the Yahoo Sender Hub.
• Outlook and Hotmail: Microsoft offers a Junk Mail Reporting Program (JMRP) and SNDS for IP data.
• If you use a newsletter tool (Mailchimp, Brevo…), it already shows a complaint figure for each campaign.

How to fix it

1. Send only to people who asked

• Remove any bought, rented or scraped list.
• Use a clear sign-up form, ideally with confirmation by email (double opt-in).
• Do not add customers to a newsletter without asking.

2. Make unsubscribing easier than complaining

• Put a visible unsubscribe link at the top or bottom of every marketing email.
• Add the one-click unsubscribe header that Gmail and Yahoo show next to your name. Most newsletter tools do this for you.
• Process unsubscribes immediately, never after "up to 10 days".

3. Act on feedback loops

When a feedback loop reports a complaint, remove that address from all your marketing lists automatically. Never send to it again.

4. Be recognisable and expected

• Use the same sender name and address every time.
• Remind people why they receive the email ("You signed up on yourdomain.com").
• Keep a regular rhythm. A sudden email after months of silence surprises people.

5. Stop emailing inactive people

Subscribers who have not opened or clicked for six to twelve months are the most likely to complain. Send them one "Do you still want our emails?" message, then remove those who do not respond.

6. Separate your email types

Send invoices and password resets from a different address or subdomain than newsletters, so complaints about marketing do not drag down important emails.

Check that it is fixed

Watch the spam rate in Postmaster Tools and your newsletter tool for two to four weeks. It should fall well under 0.1%. Send a test from the home page (/) to confirm authentication still passes and the one-click unsubscribe header is present.