Build Awesome, a small design‑tool startup of just over 20 staff, relies on SendGrid to ship its announcement emails. The service shows a 99% reputation score, which the team treats as an A‑grade indicator. Yet when the latest Kickstarter news hit inboxes, Gmail dumped the messages into spam, leaving the rollout invisible to most recipients to boost their Kickstarter launch.

Gmail runs its own sender reputation algorithm, independent of third‑party metrics. If an address doesn’t meet Gmail’s criteria—regular volume, engagement patterns, authentication flags—it can be relegated to the spam folder even with flawless SendGrid scores. With ninety percent of Build Awesome’s list using Gmail addresses, the mis‑fire crippled their outreach. Additionally, Gmail flags bulk sends that lack recent user interaction, a rule that penalizes low‑frequency newsletters.

The team is now pruning stale contacts, throttling send rates, and tightening SPF/DKIM settings to appease Gmail’s filters. They ask users to search their spam folders for messages from [email protected] and mark them as not spam. A quick spam‑search and “not spam” click can restore inbox visibility. They also plan to monitor bounce rates and adjust content relevance to keep future emails out of spam.