Understanding Bounces |
We decided to get back to basics and focus on understanding bounces as we have notice that certain email users are still unsure of the differences between a hard and a soft bounce.
A bounce is a notice from the receiving ISP or domain that the email you attempted to send has not been delivered.
The ISPs and other domains return a code and text message to the sender when an email isn't delivered. A hard bounce tells you that the reason for non-delivery is due to a permanent condition, whereas a soft bounce indicates that the condition is probably temporary.
Hard Bounce (permanent error): Hard bounces can include the following: an unknown user, signify that the record is truly undeliverable, an unknown domain: the domain does not exist anymore and should be corrected or invalidated and replaced. A hard bounce can also mean a spam block: tells you that the record should not be re-tried until the underlying practice problem has been addressed.
Soft Bounce (temporary error): A soft bounce is usually when a customer's mailbox is full due to vacation or even when a domain is temporarily not accepting mail because of technical problems. A soft bounce is telling you the email address is probably good but that delivery can't be completed right now. You should try sending again at a later date.
