GMass Blog
gmass.co · Company blog · on HN since 2015
The GMass blog covers a Gmail mass-email tool, with posts on Google's OAuth verification, Safe Browsing, click tracking, and Gmail tips.
What HN saysHN links it for first-hand accounts of Google's OAuth verification process and for guides such as setting up an SMTP server on Linux.
27HN people shared it
14linked it in comments
13stories submitted
219story points
9 months agolast shared
2015people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Show HN: GMass – a super simple mass email system for Gmail4 people · 3 points · first shared 2015 · discussion on HN
- 2Live Updates on the Google OAuth Verification Process3 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 3Forced migration to Google Sheets API v42 people · 162 points · first shared 2020 · 68 comments on HN
- 4WTF: Google’s OAuth verification process and security assessment2 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 5Google’s Safe Browsing program made my week hell1 people · 39 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 6Gmail Attachment Limit: How to Send Files That Exceed the Limit1 people · 2 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 7We’ve changed how click tracking works to avoid false phishing detection1 people · 2 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 8How to Build an Email List from Your Gmail Account1 people · 1 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 9Beware! New Google Docs scam seeks to access your entire Gmail account1 people · 1 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 10How to Check Your Spam Folder in Gmail and Outlook1 people · 1 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 11Will the new Hey email service eat Gmail’s lunch?1 people · 1 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 12GMass Privacy Information: What data does our server store?1 people · 1 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 13Is cold emailing illegal1 people · first shared 2023
- 14Request a refund1 people · first shared 2019
- 15You can now send 10000 emails with gmass and gmail1 people · first shared 2019
What HN people wrote when they linked it
esquivalience · 2023-11-11
My understanding was that the two domains are equivalent. The following sites seem to confirm my understanding. Are you sure it isn't you?
https://support.google.com/mail/thread/125577450/gmail-and-googlemail?…
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-gmail.com-and-goo…
https://www.gmass.co/blog/domains-gmail-com-googlemail-com-and-google-…
satvikpendem · 2023-01-02
Correct, if you're following CANSPAM in the US you must abide by its rules in order to remain legal, however explicit opt-in is not required. What is required is:
- No deceptive information
- Valid physical address
- Must have an easy way to unsubscribe, most often an unsubscribe link but asking the recipient to reply to stop being sent emails is also sufficient
- Promptly honor unsubscribe requests within ten days
Other countries have different laws though.
https://www.gmass.co/blog/is-cold-emailing-illegal/
> As long as I cost them enough to make sure they'll never even think of contacting me again, I'm happy.
Honestly if they're following the above rules, you won't cost them anything. And if they're not, and therefore doing it illegally, well, looks like your lawyers will have their work cut out for them.
byoung2 · 2022-01-11
I have similar ones:
PersonalLoanforYou (sent from Personal Loan Pro <[email protected])
𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡_𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐔𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 (sent from
Personal Loan <[email protected]>)
The common thread appears to be that they are sent from gmail addresses. It could be that they are using a tool like Gmass (https://www.gmass.co/) that lets you send bulk email from Gmail by batching them in groups of 500 per day. Mail originating from Gmail must have a lower spam flag rate.
72deluxe · 2021-12-06
I set up my own mail server following the guide here: https://www.c0ffee.net/blog/mail-server-guide/
I also referred to https://www.gmass.co/blog/smtp-server-linux/
I also looked at OwnCloud, but ended up just syncing from my phone to local Mac and doing backups off that regularly.
You could also rsync to other devices. A raspberry Pi with a SSD at home would work fine. If you have a VPN set up on your own network (eg. an ASUS router), you could use it to host photos/backups/music. If you home IP address is dynamic, use a free DDNS provider so you can always connect to your home site.
Just make sure you get a copy of those photos sooner than later!!
makemills · 2020-02-13
Thanks! We've really tried to keep Slimbox simple in every way. And yes, we went through Google's verification process and it was pretty rigorous.
Because Slimbox is a relatively simple application, we came in under $50k, but laying out 5-figures pre-revenue was a tough pill to swallow. It's certainly a great test of how much you believe in what you're making – we were fortunate to have strong validation from early testers.
The founder of a tool called GMass documented an experience of the verification process that felt similar to ours that you might find useful: https://www.gmass.co/blog/live-updates-google-oauth-verification-secur…
Feel free to reach out as you make progress on your inbox service.
kossnocorp · 2020-01-14
I addressed it in a comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22045670
> But once the data leaves the browser there is no way to know, wouldn't you consider to partner with Gmail(or others) and appear as an addon to an already trusted company in order to start off the business ?
Also, I understand the concern and that Paul most likely will not trust their secrets to anyone. The problem is that's not a business, but a beautiful hobby project that I honestly love, so it's unlikely that I will ever spend time rewriting it and then paying Google $15K (https://www.gmass.co/blog/google-oauth-verification-security-assessmen… so they could vet me.
fbelzile · 2019-02-20
It might help to separate out business functions from the product itself.
From your comment on the blog:
> Like I’ve explained above, [email protected] is not an email address.
To the average user, it certainly looks like an email address. Maybe just have it act like a normal email and list it under the support section of your website: https://www.gmass.co/#contact
jdietrich · 2019-02-20
From your documentation:
>We recommend that an unsubscribe link be added to all mass emails containing promotional or marketing content, but the decision is up to you.
An unsubscribe link is a requirement of the CAN-SPAM Act and the GDPR. Your own docs effectively say "We advise you not to use our product to break federal and EU law, but the decision is up to you". I can't speak for anyone else, but that doesn't really accord with my sense of ethics.
https://www.gmass.co/blog/unsubscribe-link/
aeaa3 · 2024-07-22
A little more information:
So, it's called fakemail but there is a real SMTP server in there. Attachments should work fine. Getting the web app to create SMTP accounts was quite tricky, I'm sure there are better ways but I ended up implementing the unix crypt() algorithm in C#.
Server is holding up fine so far (there was a rate-limiting bug which brought the site down yesterday). Logs show 37K unique IPs have accessed it since yesterday, and it seems to be using about 1% of the CPU (it's on a free VM in the Oracle Cloud).
There is a whole API sitting behind the web page, including proper authentication, but the frontend is very much a MVP.
Very few actual emails have been sent to it, so I'd love it if people could actually send stuff. There are a bunch of websites that can be used to send test mails, e.g.
https://www.gmass.co/smtp-test
https://www.smtper.net/
https://smtpserver.com/smtptest
https://dnschecker.org/smtp-test-tool.php
meir_yanovich · 2017-03-25
joecool1029 · 2026-02-13
I went through this hell last year when trying to tell my customers I had to change payment processors.
In my case it turns out I was victim of Google having a beef with afraid.org years ago (the DNS authoritative record for my domain). 100% of my emails to gmail were going to spam, as soon as I switched NS record to fastmail (with same zone file) I hit the inbox.
I never would have caught it without using this site: https://www.gmass.co/inbox
I did not show up on any of the major blacklists with mxtoolbox, this took months to figure out and I felt like I was going insane with hardly anyone responding to my emails.
obahareth · 2020-01-15
Very interesting, this seems very related to them force-migrating everyone to the new Sheets API that has a number of missing features.
https://www.gmass.co/blog/google-sheets-api-v4-bullshit/
gk1 · 2019-02-20
> You have to be a true spammer
And what exactly is a "true spammer," in your view? Your product allows people send 10,000[1] emails at once to people who never opted-in.
You and your product enable spam. Shame on you.
https://www.gmass.co/blog/you-can-now-send-10000-emails-with-gmass-and…
jfk13 · 2019-02-20
If that were my service, I'd be pretty embarrassed by the number of unhappy users who have commented on the blog posts about cancellation[1] and refunds[2]. Doesn't seem like a good look.
[1] https://www.gmass.co/blog/how-to-cancel-your-paid-gmail-mail-merge-sub…
[2] https://www.gmass.co/blog/request-a-refund/