Seeing Gmail's data with Google Postmaster Tools
Google Postmaster Tools shows how Gmail sees the mail from your domain: how often its users mark it as spam, and how well it passes SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Once your domain is set up there, you can read the same figures in BlacklistGuard. This guide walks through the setup and explains what to expect from the data.
Before you start
Google only shows data for the domain that signs your mail with DKIM, or the domain in its Return-Path. For BlacklistGuard customers, that means your sending domain, with its own DKIM key published and verified.
Step 1: add your domain in Postmaster Tools
- Go to postmaster.google.com and sign in with a Google account. Remember which one: you'll connect the same account to BlacklistGuard later.
- On the Manage Domains page, click Add new domain and enter your sending domain.
- Google shows a TXT or CNAME record. Add it to your domain's DNS, then click Verify. Google says it can take up to 10 minutes for the verification status to update, and it won't show any data until the domain is verified.
If teammates need to see the data in Postmaster Tools too, add them to the domain under Manage users. Google doesn't notify them, so let them know yourself.
Step 2: connect your Google account
- In the console, open Deliverability and find the Google Postmaster Tools panel.
- Click Connect Google account and sign in with the same Google account that has your domain in Postmaster Tools.
- Back in the console, click Sync now. The panel lists every domain that account can see in Postmaster Tools, along with the account's permission on each.
Step 3: keep the data up to date
The data isn't refreshed automatically. It's brought in each time you click Sync now, and the panel shows when you last synced. Sync again whenever you want the latest figures.
For each domain the panel shows the latest day's spam rate and SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass rates. A few things to keep in mind:
- Google's data runs behind. In our experience the newest day available is about two days before the day you sync. That's what we've seen, not a timing Google promises.
- Low volume can mean no data. Google may leave out a day when too few messages were sent, so a domain that sends little to Gmail can show nothing at all. The panel tells you when that's the case.
- A missing figure isn't zero. When Google doesn't report a rate for a day, the panel leaves it blank rather than showing 0%.
- No reputation score. Google no longer provides domain or IP reputation through Postmaster Tools' API, so BlacklistGuard can't show it.