A few days ago, I noticed that bounce notifications from Gmail were no longer cryptic plain text emails with SMTP codes and headers, but instead looked far more aesthetically pleasing. So much so, that I now look forward to receiving an otherwise dreaded bounce notification. Here is an example of the new Gmail bounce notice in all its glory:

Google quietly rolled out this enhancement, as there was no mention of it on even the official Gmail blog. Still, the GMass team welcomes this enhancement. Gmail now translates the actual SMTP bounce code into a more readable message that is friendly to a non-techie email user. Additionally, if an email bounces because the email has been blocked and not because the email address is invalid, Gmail displays a “stop sign” to help you quickly identify the reason for the bounce:

Remember, if you use GMass to send a mass email campaign, GMass will find all bounces, blocks, and replies and categorize and process them for you as part of its Reply Management function. Bounces will be moved into the GMass Reports –> Bounces Label, and block notifications will be moved into the GMass Reports –> Blocks Label. Additionally, GMass stores a list of email addresses that have bounced because the address is invalid, and automatically suppresses these addresses from future mail merge campaigns.