Throttling is when the carriers deliberately slow down how fast your messages get delivered, metering your traffic rather than blocking it. It's related to but distinct from filtering, and it can quietly wreck a time-sensitive send by delivering your messages too slowly to matter. Understanding throttling, why it happens and how to avoid it, is part of running a deliverable program. Here's what it is.
What is message throttling?
Throttling is a rate limit on your delivery, the carriers accept your messages but release them slowly, rather than blocking them outright. Where filtering stops messages, throttling delays them, letting your traffic through at a reduced pace. It's tied closely to throughput, the speed you're allowed to send, so a throttled sender's big blast trickles out over hours instead of landing in minutes. For most sends that's invisible; for a time-critical one, it's a serious problem.
Why does throttling happen?
Because of your registration, reputation, or volume patterns. A sender on the standard lane rather than the political use case has lower throughput and gets throttled sooner. A sender with poor reputation from complaints or spam signals gets metered as a precaution. And a sudden volume spike from an unseasoned sender looks risky, so the carriers slow it down. Throttling is the carriers' way of controlling traffic they're not fully sure about, so the way to avoid it is to be a sender they trust: properly registered on the political lane, with a clean reputation.
Why does throttling matter most at GOTV?
Because that's when delivery speed is non-negotiable. Throttling is invisible when timing doesn't matter, a fundraising text that takes an extra hour is fine. But on Election Day, when you're sending a polling-place or polls-closing reminder to a large list in a narrow window, throttling is devastating, your reminder arrives after the window closes for the voters at the end of the queue. This is why proper registration on the political use case matters so much: it gives you the throughput to deliver a GOTV blast in time. A throttled sender is still sending as the polls shut, which is the difference between a GOTV push that lands and one that misses.
Frequently asked questions
What is message throttling?
When carriers deliberately slow your message delivery, metering your traffic rather than blocking it. Where filtering stops messages, throttling delays them, so a big blast trickles out over hours instead of landing in minutes.
Why do carriers throttle senders?
Because of registration (standard lane vs the political use case), poor reputation from complaints or spam signals, or sudden volume spikes from unseasoned senders. Throttling is how carriers control traffic they're not sure about.
Why does throttling matter for GOTV?
Because delivery speed is non-negotiable then. A throttled Election Day reminder arrives after the window closes for voters at the end of the queue. Proper registration on the political use case gives the throughput to deliver a GOTV blast in time.
Keep reading: what 10DLC means for your campaign and why political texts get filtered. For registration, see The Campaign Registry.