Google Postmaster Tools
Use Google Postmaster Tools alongside maxclicks reporting to investigate Gmail sending health. It provides sender signals such as user-reported spam, authentication and compliance. Read these in Google's console; maxclicks does not import the dashboards.
What each side covers
maxclicks tracks email delivery and response events. Postmaster adds Gmail sender signals; its spam reporting concerns user reports and should not be read as a complete spam-folder placement rate. See Google's dashboard definitions.
| Signal | Source |
|---|---|
| Bounce, complaint, delivery, open, click events | maxclicks (SES) |
| Bounce and complaint suppressions | maxclicks |
| Open SES sending recommendations (DKIM, DMARC, SPF, BIMI, bounce, complaint, IP warming, third-party feedback), raised in the app's Inbox panel | maxclicks |
| Gmail user-reported spam and sender compliance | Postmaster |
| Gmail authentication and delivery-health signals | Postmaster |
| Gmail delivery errors | Postmaster |
Postmaster only reports on domains that send a fair amount to Gmail each day. If you send a little, the charts stay empty.
Setup
Add your domain
Sign in at postmaster.google.com with a Google account and add your sending domain.
Verify ownership
Google gives you a DNS TXT record. Add it at your DNS provider, the same place you added the records from Domain Setup. Google shows no data until it confirms you own the domain.
Wait for data
Reporting depends on sufficient traffic and Google's reporting delay. An empty chart does not establish that every message reached the inbox.
Use the signals to make a decision
If delivery falls in maxclicks, open affected emails and compare provider errors before assuming the campaign copy caused it. If maxclicks shows Delivered but Gmail engagement changes, inspect Gmail authentication, spam and compliance signals alongside the audience and message.
Align the dates before comparing reports: Postmaster uses UTC, is delayed and can omit low-volume data. Its user-reported spam metric is not an inbox-placement measurement. Treat an empty or changing chart as evidence to investigate, not permission to resend the same campaign. Google explains these reporting limits.
Which domain to register
Verify the domain used to authenticate your mail and check the scope of each dashboard. Google's compliance view covers the primary domain and its subdomains, while other data may depend on the authentication domain. Follow Google's dashboard scope. See Subdomains vs root domains.