While troubleshooting some recent issues with our emails landing in subscribers’ junk folders, I noticed that the “list-unsubscribe” feature doesn’t seem to be working for us, as the unsubscribe button isn’t appearing at the top for our emails in Gmail. (I mean this feature https://help.activecampaign.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008716499-How-List-Unsubscribe-helps-email-deliverability). At first I thought it was just because our friendly from name is so long, but even when I view the email in full-screen it doesn’t have the list-unsubscribe button at the top. I can see code related to it when viewing the raw header, so I’m not sure why it’s not showing in Gmail.
Hi Torin!
Even when the list-unsubscribe header is properly included in your emails (which it sounds like it is, since you see it in the raw headers), Gmail doesn’t always display the unsubscribe button. It’s ultimately Gmail’s decision based on several factors.
Gmail is more likely to show it for senders with good reputation and engagement Email volume — You typically need consistent sending volume for Gmail to recognize you as a legitimate bulk sender Time/history — Gmail may need to see a pattern of legitimate sending over time Engagement rates — Low opens/clicks or high spam complaints can affect whether it displays Authentication — Make sure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are properly configured
Hope this helps!
Hi, Alanna.
Thank you so much for the response. So my concern is that even though we’ve been sending from Active Campaign for about a year now, have consistent engagement rates, send only to opted-in users, and our DNS records are all correct per entering our domains here (Authenticate Email with SPF, DKIM, DMARC | ActiveCampaign), it seems Gmail still doesn’t recognize us as a legitimate sender since the list-unsubscribe header is not appearing on our emails, is that correct? I’m just worried this is a symptom in our larger issue of our emails suddenly landing in subscribers’ junk folders over the past few weeks. Is there any way we can get more insight into how Gmail (and Outlook, as it’s also been flagging our emails as spam) is viewing our domains?
Hi Torin!
Since you’ve been sending for a year with proper authentication and opt-in practices, you have a solid foundation. Something has likely changed recently to trigger this shift.
I would suggest you open a support ticket with our deliverability team, they should be able to dive deeper in your account to diagnosis what the issue is!
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Thank you, we’ll give that a try!
And thank you for your assistance with this, I appreciate it.