What you can do when Gmail changes the rules

Over the past year, Gmail has made several important changes to how it assesses and filters bulk emails. For many senders, this happens in the background, until suddenly open rates drop or emails start bouncing. Here we explain what has changed and how you can adapt your strategy to keep reaching your recipients’ inbox.

Gmail changes the rules of the game

Gmail has tightened its bulk sending rules and now counts anyone sending 5,000+ emails per day to Gmail addresses as bulk senders. This puts stricter requirements on reputation, engagement and email strategy. For those who send high volumes of emails to Gmail addresses, this can lead to poorer inbox placement and more blocks – if lists, frequency and content are not optimized on an ongoing basis.

For smaller senders, the impact is lower, but sloppy or too dense sending can gradually degrade delivery to Gmail inboxes. Gmail does this to reduce spam and increase inbox quality. Senders that don’t show clear value to recipients are filtered out faster than before.

So what can you do?

Segment smarter
Separate Gmail addresses from other recipients and adjust volume, frequency and content accordingly.

Send less but better
Focus on recipients who actually want to hear from you. Engaged lists build sender reputation faster than large, passive lists.

Be consistent
Gmail prefers stable sending patterns. Avoid sudden spikes or jerky volume increases.

Test and optimize continuously
Subject lines, content and timing need to be continuously evaluated. What worked six months ago is not necessarily right today.

To conclude, Gmail’s changes do not mean that the email channel has become more difficult! But it does require more thought. Senders who adapt, test and focus on the recipient experience will continue to reach the inbox. Those who rely on old habits, however, risk losing visibility.