Email Blogs
BIMI’s so hot right now! Everybody’s asking me lately which ISPs support it and how do I set it up and do I need a VMC and more! Lots of smart folks have implemented a BIMI logo already — and I think BIMI adoption is poised to explode…maybe making this the summer of BIMI? Or maybe not, because stuff always seems to moves slower than I hope it will. But hey, it was an excuse to make a fun graphic!As far as ISP and mailbox provider support for BIMI logos, we’re basically at the same place we were back when I last posted a status update back in January, 2022. The usual suspects are still in the same place as before: Yahoo, Gmail and Fastmail will display BIMI logos, Gmail requires a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), and Microsoft hasn’t announced anything on the logo front in years, sadly. For more…
I noticed these job postings on Linkedin and thought I would share them along because email/mobile messaging/abuse fighting engineering roles are kind of scarce and rather a fun area to work in, I suspect. And I’ve got a friend who recently went to this company and seems really happy there.First, a position based in France that really interests me. Maybe I need to move to France and apply for this one. But assuming I don’t, here’s what you need to know:”Cloudmark as part of Proofpoint is looking for a Messaging Gateway Software Engineer to join our engineering team in Paris. The Cloudmark team builds software to provide high performance messaging security services to customers around the world, including AT&T, Comcast, Orange and Swisscom. We are looking for someone who is passionate about building high performance software and joining the fight against messaging abuse.”Interested? Click here for more details and/or to…
DELIVTERMS: The weekly series here on Spam Resource that defines deliverability terminology. Today, I’m going to talk about blocklists.What are blocklists? Also called blocking lists, they are lists of IP addresses and/or domain names that are used as spam filters to plug into various email servers and spam filters. The implication is typically that by inclusion of a particular IP address or domain name on that blocklist, that the publisher of that blocklist perceived or believed that the user or owner of that IP address or domain name was engaged in sending spam, or some other unsavory practice.It was common for some folks to call them “blacklists,” though most operators of blocklists avoided that term. Today, most folks refer to them as “blocklists.”Technical terms that typically refer to a blocklist include:RBL (Realtime Blockhole List): Technically refers (only) to the MAPS RBL, one of the first blocklists, but some folks use…
Tools that you run from the command line – i.e. from a terminal or shell window – are often more powerful and quicker to use than their GUI or web equivalents. Their output is plain text so it’s much easier to copy and paste into an email or a slack conversation – sure, you can take a screenshot of a GUI tool and share that, but then the folks you’re sharing it with can’t copy the text out of it. And you can easily run them on a remote machine, which can be particularly useful when you’re diagnosing network issues, or email reputation issues that may be IP address based. Here are some of the tools I use daily, and how to install them on your laptop. (If you’re installing these for a class I’m giving we might have an alternate way to use them if you didn’t install them…
Jeff Butts from Mac Observer walks you through how to send an email using Apple’s “Hide My Email” functionality from your iOS device.Neat idea…except that it doesn’t seem to work for me, on my iPhone 12 Mini running iOS 15.4.1. I just get an error message that says, “Hide my Email is currently unavailable.” Apparently, I’m not the only one. Is this feature perhaps a bit buggy?
I’m only a couple hours into my day today and so far I’ve received three different emails from three completely different senders, each inviting me to go look at the same exciting erotic webcam site. Each email message came from what I think is a legitimate sender — the latest one, from some sort of online sushi-related website, which I think is owned by some sort of sushi restaurant or delivery service, probably based in France, given the domain name used. I don’t think this online maki maker intended to advertise an adult website, but I suspect that they have open text fields in their registration forms or forward-to-a-friend forms that some spammer is exploiting to send out the gross porn links. And when I, and everybody else, report the mail as spam, the deliverability damage lands squarely on the sushi seller’s domain and IP address. Which sucks.The fact that…
ActiveCampaign is hiring, looking for a: Deliverability Specialist.From the listing: “The Deliverability Specialist provides client-facing support and services for ActiveCampaign clients and staff. The DS is responsible for ensuring the highest possible level of service in providing successful e-mail delivery for ActiveCampaign clients. The DS assists in establishing ActiveCampaign as the industry leader in providing the expertise and guidance required to navigate the complex email delivery landscape.”For more info and/or to apply, click here.
DELIVTERMS: The weekly series here on Spam Resource that defines deliverability terminology. Today, I’m going to talk about Greylisting.What is it? Greylisting is where an ISP or mailbox provider configures their mail server to temporarily delay incoming email. Usually not long — perhaps for only 60 seconds to a few minutes.How? Mail servers that support this have a setting where they track server connections. If it’s the first time a certain server or domain connects to them, they defer (temporarily reject) that connection or address with a 4xx temporary failure. This invites the sending server to try again later. Most sending mail servers have a “retry interval” setting that governs how long until they retry. In some cases, it’s 15 minutes, in other cases, a few hours. This can usually be configured by the administrator of the sending MTA.Why? It’s a form of spam filtering. It is done to stop…
There comes a time in many marketers’ lives where they are faced with and old, stale database and a management chain that wants to mail those addresses. Smart marketers know that delivery problems will arise if they just reactivate all those users. They also know that mailing older addresses can affect current and engaged addresses as well. Still, many executives think there is no downside to mailing old addresses. A long time ago I wrote 5 answers you need before mailing old addresses, which covers a lot of the underlying things to consider first. What it doesn’t do is talk about how to mail them. Management will know all those things and still decide that sending to old addresses is a good idea. So, now what? A lot of folks just run the list through a data hygiene service. But, to my mind, most data hygiene services don’t address the…
Inboxable by Data Axle is hiring! The role: Account Manager – Email Deliverability.From the posting: “This position is responsible for monitoring email performance on behalf of our clients and providing guidance for optimal email inbox placement. This position is responsible for providing exceptional customer service, education, email campaign strategy and efficient issue resolution in the areas of email deliverability. This position will regularly and customarily exercise discretion and independent judgment relative to matters of significance and act as an advisor to clients.”Read more and/or apply here.