Topic

Bounces and hygiene

Suppression, retries, and the classifications every platform gets slightly wrong.

Who should care. Anyone importing lists, running big databases, or seeing rising blocks.

If you are new. Hygiene is list health: remove dead addresses, do not buy lists, stop mailing people who never engage. Spam traps are fake addresses that punish bad collection.

Common mistake. Purchased lists, never sunsetting inactives, and assuming every ESP bounce rule is the same.

5 rules below · Glossary · Filter to your desk

SharedUpdatedHygiene · Global

Fix the cause before requesting blocklist removal

A blocklist hit is a signal, not a fine — fix the cause first; paid delisting without that is theatre.

Skip if You send no email and expose no domain in email .

YoursNew on siteHygiene · Global

Inactive recipients need a documented sunset policy

Stop regular marketing to people who never engage — or re-ask . There is no magic universal day count from Gmail.

Skip if Your entire list is recent with no multi-year dormant tail.

YoursUpdatedHygiene · Global

Signup forms need anti-automation controls

Bots will stuff your form with junk and — CAPTCHA, rate limits, and protect the list.

Skip if You have no public signup path and only manually load confirmed addresses (rare).

SharedNew on siteHygiene · Global

Bounce suppression is platform-specific, not universal

There is no universal “ seven times” rule — Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Braze each define bounce differently.

Skip if You send no marketing email.

YoursNew on siteHygiene · Global

A spam-trap hit is a collection or hygiene failure

Hitting a means your list source or hygiene failed — not bad luck.

Skip if You only mail freshly addresses with no imports, partners or multi-year segments—and you still monitor .