Google: Legitimate Email Identified as Spam/Dangerous

Environment

U-M Google, Gmail

Issue

Some UMICH emails I receive are being flagged as spam or dangerous, even though they are legitimate. How do I prevent this?

Resolution

It is impossible to say for sure what causes legitimate U-M email to be marked as spam or dangerous because Google's algorithms are private. Two possible reasons include:

• If the email was going to a large group and a few of them were not interested and marked it as spam, that will increase the chances it will be automatically marked as spam for others.
• If the person who sent you the email recently sent an unrelated large mailing, where some people marked it as spam. These spam emails will appear in the Spam label and have a message stating: "Why is this message in spam? It is similar to messages that were identified as spam in the past."
  • Alternatively, you received the email in your Inbox, but it included a warning message stating: "This message seems dangerous." Emails with this banner are not spam but may indicate a phishing scam.

There are a few ways to handle legitimate Google email being identified as spam or dangerous:

1. Train Google to allow the mail you really want to receive. (Google's detection algorithm does accept training, and over time, you should notice that more messages get delivered properly to your Inbox and not marked as spam or dangerous.)
   • Go into the Spam label and find the message that was incorrectly identified as spam. Open that message and click the Report not spam button at the top of the email.
   • Go to your Inbox and find the message that was incorrectly flagged as dangerous. Open that message and click the Looks safe button at the top of the email if it's indeed legitimate.
2. Create a mail filter. (You can set up a filter to match the pattern "@umich.edu" so that all U-M mail gets delivered appropriately.)
   1. Go to U-M Gmail.
   2. Enter from:(@umich.edu) in the search field at the top.
   3. Click the Show search options icon to the left of the field.
   4. Click Create filter.
   5. Check the Never send it to Spam box.
   6. Click Create filter.
3. Add trusted senders to your Google Contacts.
   • Add from an existing email:
     1. Hover over the sender’s name at the top of the email message.
     2. Click the Add to contacts icon in the top right corner of the contact card.
   • Add from a known address:
     1. Go to Google Contacts
     2. Click Create contact in the top left and select Create a contact.
     3. Enter the contact's information in the fields provided.
     4. Click Save.

Best practices for sending email to Gmail

• Do not BCC too many recipients. If you need to BCC many people, create an MCommunity group, add the individuals to the group, and BCC the group.
• Don't mark internal UMICH messages as spam.
  • This can negatively affect our domain's reputation, resulting in future messages being sent to spam.
• Do not enter the subject line in all caps.
• Always include an email in the To: field.
• Additional best practices can be found at U-M Google Spam Email Procedures.

Additional Information

Need additional information or assistance? Contact the ITS Service Center.