Why do email marketing messages with youtu.be links go to spam in Gmail?

Hi! You’re not imagining it—a youtu.be link can contribute to Gmail spam placement, not because YouTube is “bad,” but because shortened URLs + extra redirects (click tracking) can look like link obfuscation, which is a common pattern in phishing/spam. Gmail doesn’t judge one thing in isolation, though; it weighs the whole message (sender reputation, engagement, formatting, and link behavior). That’s why the rest of your onboarding sequence can inbox while this one email keeps tipping over into spam.

Here’s what’s usually going on, and what to do instead.

Why a youtu.be link can hurt deliverability (especially with click tracking)

1) Shorteners reduce transparency
Short domains (including legit ones) hide the final destination at a glance. Spam filters often treat any “shortened-looking” URL as slightly higher risk because bad senders use them heavily.

2) Tracking creates multiple hops
If your ESP wraps links for click tracking, your recipient sees something like:
your-tracking-domain → (redirect) → youtu.be → (redirect) → youtube.com/watch…
More hops can mean:

• less obvious destination to scanners,
• more chances for a reputation problem on the tracking domain,
• occasional “suspicious redirect chain” signals.

3) Your tracking domain reputation matters more than YouTube
Most ESPs track clicks on a shared or branded tracking domain. If that tracking domain has a weaker reputation (or is shared across many senders), Gmail can be more cautious—especially in a message where the main CTA is a redirected link.

4) That one email may have other “spammy” cues
Common extras that push a single message into spam even in an opt-in sequence:

• more image-heavy layout (GIF preview + big button),
• a more promotional subject line (“watch now”, “free”, “limited”, etc.),
• fewer “real words” vs. imagery,
• multiple links/CTAs,
• slightly different sending behavior (timing, segment, volume spike).

Best way to link to videos without triggering Gmail spam

If you want the safest approach for email marketing deliverability, do this:

• Use the full YouTube URL (not youtu.be)
  Prefer youtube.com/watch?v=... (it’s clearer and often treated as less “shortener-like”).

• Reduce redirects where you can
  The best options (pick one):

  • Exclude that YouTube link from click tracking (many ESPs let you disable tracking per-link).
  • Use a branded tracking domain (your own subdomain for tracking) and keep it consistent across campaigns.
  • Link to a page on your own domain (a simple “watch” landing page), then embed/redirect to YouTube from there. This also keeps the primary click on a domain aligned with your brand.

• Use a static image thumbnail + play button, not an embedded video
  Embedding video in email isn’t broadly supported; a thumbnail that links out is standard. Keep the GIF lightweight and consider adding a plain-text link under it (“Prefer a direct link? Watch here: …”).

• Keep the email “balanced”
  Make sure there’s enough text context around the link (what they’ll see, why it helps), and avoid a design that’s essentially one big image + one big CTA.

Quick troubleshooting checklist (high impact)

• Confirm SPF/DKIM/DMARC are set and aligned with your sending domain (this matters even more when links redirect).
• Check whether the spammy email uses a different template, different subject line, or different tracking settings than the rest.
• Look at Gmail engagement: if users don’t open/click that email (or some mark it as spam), Gmail may learn it’s unwanted even if earlier emails were fine.
• If you can, review your domain reputation in Google Postmaster Tools (it often explains why one message type is struggling).

If you tell me whether you’re using a shared tracking domain or a branded/custom tracking domain, and whether you can disable click tracking for a single link, I can suggest the most practical “minimal-change” fix for your setup.