What 550 5.7.28 Means
Gmail's '5.7.28 ... too many ratings' variant signals that your IP has accumulated too many spam-folder placements or user spam-marks recently. The 'ratings' term is Gmail's internal vocabulary for the per-message classifications their filter assigns. High ratings = high spam classification = throttled or blocked sending.
Gmail consumer accounts and Google Workspace domains. Distinct enough from generic 5.7.28 (rate limit) that the text matters — read it carefully.
Your recent sends have been classified as spam at a high rate. Causes: poor content (spammy language, link density), low engagement (recipients ignoring/deleting), high complaint rate (recipients marking as spam), or sending to a list with low quality (high bounce, low open rates).
How to Fix 550 5.7.28
- 1
Stop sending to Gmail
Each additional message during a high-ratings state adds to the rating count. Pause immediately. Resume only after Postmaster Tools shows reputation recovering.
- 2
Check Gmail Postmaster Tools spam rate
postmaster.google.com shows your domain's user-reported spam rate, IP reputation, and domain reputation. Anything above 0.1% spam rate triggers throttling. 0.3% triggers severe restrictions. Stay below 0.1%.
- 3
Audit your campaign content for spam triggers
Use the CAN-SPAM Checker at coldrelay.com/tools/can-spam-checker. Common triggers: spammy subject lines, link-shortener URLs (bit.ly, t.co), all-caps text, excessive exclamation points, HTML/text mismatch, image-only emails, suspicious sender names.
- 4
Reduce send volume by 80%
Cut Gmail-bound volume to 20% of pre-incident levels. Continue at this reduced volume for 2-4 weeks. Reputation recovers gradually with consistent low-volume, low-complaint sending.
- 5
Verify your unsubscribe mechanism works
Recipients who can't unsubscribe mark as spam instead. Gmail's Feb 2024 rules require a one-click unsubscribe (List-Unsubscribe header) for bulk senders. Verify your sending platform sets this header correctly.
- 6
Improve list quality before resuming
Run new lists through email verification. Remove role accounts (info@, sales@, contact@) which frequently mark as spam. Prefer LinkedIn-sourced verified contacts to scraped contacts.
- 7
Consider migrating to fresh infrastructure if reputation is unrecoverable
If Postmaster Tools shows persistent 'Bad' or 'Low' reputation, recovery may take months. ColdRelay provisions clean dedicated IPs that start neutral. Pair with stricter content and list discipline to avoid recurrence.
References
550 5.7.28 in the Cold Email Context
High ratings come from cold email that doesn't engage. The proximate fix is content quality; the structural fix is list quality. ColdRelay can't fix poor content or low-quality lists — but it can give you a clean dedicated IP that builds reputation faithfully when you do everything right. The 2/day/mailbox volume cap exists precisely because higher volumes increase the chance of cumulative ratings damage even with good content. Lower volume per mailbox means lower per-mailbox rating exposure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a 'rating' in Gmail's system?
Each message you send gets classified by Gmail's filter on a continuous scale. Messages classified as likely-spam contribute to your IP/domain's negative ratings. User spam-marks are the strongest negative rating. Repeated negative ratings degrade your reputation.
Is 0.1% spam rate the actual threshold?
Per Gmail's published bulk-sender guidance, yes. Above 0.1% user-reported spam rate, you enter throttling. Above 0.3%, you face severe restrictions. Stay below 0.1% as the operating ceiling.
How long until ratings improve?
Gmail's reputation system has multi-week memory. Improvements (lower volume, better content, list cleanup) start showing in Postmaster Tools within 1-2 weeks. Full recovery from a 'Bad' tier takes 4-12 weeks of consistent good behavior.
Can I appeal high-ratings throttling?
No direct appeal mechanism. The only fix is consistent good behavior that lowers your rating average. Postmaster Tools is the visibility — there's no 'reset reputation' button.