Recent Posts

Can I assume consumer and business filtering is the same?

Today’s question comes from Steve B.

I wondered if you know much about hosted email providers such as google apps, Microsoft and yahoo.
I have seen a rise in number of people using them to provide their corporate email service.   I am using the same logic that the rules governing delivery to gmail will effect those using google hosted email for example.  For Microsoft i have  been using Hotmail due to the SmartScreen filters.  Would you agree with that logic?

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Subject lines

There has been a lot of discussion in various places recently about subject line length and how it affects email marketing. There have been multiple studies done on how the subject line affects opens and clicks. (Mailchimp, Alchemy Worx, Mailer Mailer, Adestra). The discussion has even spilled over into Ken Magill’s newsletter today.
I’ve had a couple people ask me my opinion on subject line over the years. My general response is that subject line length is not directly measured by spamfilters and so don’t fret about the length. It is true that consistently crafting poor subject lines can indirectly cause delivery problems. Send mail few people open and that will hurt your reputation over time.
I think Ken really said it best, though.

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Want to learn about Networking and the Internet?

You can trust the “experts” that populate Facebook.

Or you can take An Introduction to Computer Networks from Stanford University.

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DMARC Interoperability

Facebook hosted a DMARC interoperability event earlier this week. In terms of protocol development, interoperability events are a sign that the protocol is ready for more widespread use.

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Handling replies to bulk mail

This week’s Wednesday question comes from Ryan W.

I’ve been noticing a few e-mail accounts who reply to our e-mail sends with spammy type replies such as, “hey this is intense…..(link)” what do you think should we be removing those e-mails from our mailing?

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Return Path partners with Symantec

Today Return Path announced a partnership with Symantec to improve their anti-phishing product. Return Path is incorporating the Symantec Trusted Domain List into their authentication and filtering product to help customers protect their brands. Press Release
Phishing scams affect everyone, and having a brand that is used in phishing can reduce consumer trust in that brand. Protecting brands in email has been one of the more difficult challenges facing the email community. With the adoption of DKIM and DMARC by major brands and ISPs it has become easier to track and address phishing.

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October?

I had a realization a few days ago that next week is October. Where did the year go? Blogging is likely to be light in October, I’m at multiple conferences (OTA next week, MAAWG at the end of the month).
Please stop by and introduce yourselves if you’re at either conference. I always love to meet readers.

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Thinking of increasing email frequency for the holidays?

Then you have to read this post by Dayne Shuda on EmailCritic. How to handle Email Frequency During the Busy Holiday Season.

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What causes Spamhaus CSS listings

Today’s Wednesday Question comes from Zaib F.

What causes the Spamhaus CSS listing in your experience other than Sender using multiple sets of IPs, to look as if they are a valid sender. Do you think a Spamtrap plays a role?

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The naming of lists

Any ESP that supports multiple mailing lists per customer lets you name your mailing lists. That’s useful for keeping track of where a list was from , but sometimes those list names are visible to the recipient:

Here the list name is visible on the opt-out / email preferences form, but you’ll also see them in (hidden) email headers or (visible) email footers.
“Last 10000” is pretty innocuous, but I’ve seen “Non responders”, “Vegas blast”, “Opt-outs 2010”, “Jigsaw 3”, “Purchased 2011-07-01″, Trade 2”, “Co-reg 4” as well as lists named after companies completely unrelated to the list owner.
You could check to see whether the list names are visible on every ESP and mail platform you use – or you could just assume they will be visible to end users eventually and be always careful in naming them.

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