What is Google Postmaster’s spam rate metric?

Spam rate in Gmail Postmaster Tools shows the percentage of your delivered messages that Gmail users marked as spam. This is the primary metric Gmail uses to assess sender quality.

The calculation is spam reports divided by delivered messages over a rolling window. Only messages that reached the inbox and were subsequently reported count.

Google's 2024 bulk sender requirements mandate keeping spam rates below 0.3%, with emphasis on staying below 0.1%. Persistent rates above these thresholds damage reputation and trigger filtering.

Spam rate appears in Postmaster Tools only when you have sufficient volume for statistical significance. Low-volume senders may not see data.

Spam rate is your cargo rejection percentage at the Gmail harbor. Keep it below one in a thousand, and authorities trust your shipments. Let it climb, and every subsequent delivery faces scrutiny.