How can I use the reputation dashboard to find out when my Amazon SES bounce rate is high?

Resolution

Review the following guidelines about maximum bounce and complaint rates:

• If your bounce rate exceeds 5%, then Amazon SES places your AWS account under review. For information on how your bounce rate is calculated, see Bounce rate notification.
• If your bounce rate exceeds 10%, then Amazon SES pauses your account's ability to send email.
• If your complaint rate exceeds the maximum rate of 0.01%, then Amazon SES pauses your account's ability to send emails.

View your reputation metrics

If you receive a notification that your bounce rate or complaint rate is high, then use the reputation dashboard to review your reputation metrics. The reputation dashboard contains recommendations for how to resolve sender reputation issues. To lower your bounce rate, see How can I handle a high bounce rate with emails that I send using Amazon SES?

The reputation dashboard displays your metrics, but it doesn't send notifications when your bounce or complaint rates exceed the maximum rate that Amazon SES allows.

Set up reputation monitoring notifications

To receive notifications when your bounce or complaint rates are too high, use Amazon CloudWatch to create a reputation monitoring alarm. Then, use the mailbox simulator to test your Amazon CloudWatch alarm.

It's a best practice to configure your alarm's bounce rate threshold at 0.05, and its complaint rate threshold at 0.001. You can also use Amazon CloudWatch to set up multiple alarms that alert you when your reputation metrics approach the maximum rate. For example, to receive a notification when your bounce rate reaches 3%, create a second alarm, and configure that alarm's bounce rate threshold at 0.03.