FSF trying to contact Google about spammer sending 10k+ mails from Gmail account

Google’s incentives and (lack of) support

• Many argue Google has little incentive to prioritize abuse handling or user support, especially for free Gmail; staff promotions are tied to revenue-impacting work, not fixing edge-case abuse.
• Some say even paid Google Workspace support is weak unless spending is very high, though a few report getting human support in some regions.
• A recurring theme: to get action, people resort to extreme routes (e.g., legal letters, police reports, certified mail to Google’s legal department).

Market power, monopoly debate, and infrastructure dependence

• Strong disagreement over whether Gmail is a “monopoly”: some see it as dominant enough to dictate email behavior; others cite multiple providers and call monopoly claims exaggerated.
• Several note that even without classic monopoly status, concentrated “market power” lets Google effectively set de‑facto standards (deliverability, anti‑spam, account linking).
• Concern that “free but essential” services (email, IDs tied to phones, etc.) form a trap where users are locked in with no meaningful recourse.

Spam patterns and Google as sender

• Multiple admins report that a large share of spam now originates from Google infrastructure: gmail.com, Workspace tenants, Google Cloud IPs, googleusercontent.com, AppSheet, Google Groups, Calendar invites, and storage.googleapis.com links.
• Others say Microsoft/Outlook, Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Sendgrid are comparable or worse; views differ by individual spam corpus.
• Some note Google does suspend accounts after enough spam reports, but overall enforcement is seen as slow or inconsistent.

Abuse reporting and technical mechanisms

• External spam reporting to Google is described as painful: abuse@ redirects to web forms that often require Google accounts; many say reports are ignored.
• Some point to standardized mechanisms (Abuse Reporting Format, feedback loops) and third‑party tools (SpamCop, phish.report), but effectiveness is debated.
• Debate over what constitutes “spam”: unsolicited bulk vs any unwanted marketing. Many mark marketing emails as spam even from “legit” companies and services like Mailchimp.

Self‑hosting email and ecosystem side effects

• Running independent mail servers is reported as feasible but increasingly complex: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, IP reputation, RBLs, throttling by big providers.
• Google and Microsoft are accused of making life hard for small senders (legit mail going to spam or being throttled) while still leaking substantial spam.
• Some propose hard responses (blocking Google/Salesforce/Mailchimp entirely, new alliances/blacklists), but acknowledge “too big to block” economic and social realities.