Bounce Message

A Bounce Message, also known as a return message or Non-Delivery Report (NDR), is an automatic email notification sent back when an email could not be successfully delivered. It informs the sender about the delivery failure and typically includes the reason for the transmission failure.

A common reason for a Bounce Message is an invalid or unreachable email address. If the recipient does not exist or the email address was entered incorrectly, the message is immediately rejected. In such cases, it is referred to as a "Hard Bounce," a permanent delivery failure.

Another possible reason is a temporary issue with the mailbox. This is referred to as a "Soft Bounce" and occurs when the recipient's inbox is full or the mail server is temporarily unavailable. In such cases, delivery can be attempted again later.

Example: A company sends a newsletter to 10,000 recipients. If 500 emails bounce back due to typos in the addresses, the sender receives 500 Bounce Messages informing about the delivery failure.

Bounce Messages are important in email marketing and business operations to monitor the quality of the email list and identify delivery issues. A high number of bounces can affect the sender's reputation, which is why regular maintenance of the recipient list is essential.