Spam Resource
It’s time for another BIMI update, and this time it’s chock full of new details that you’ll want to know! So let’s get right to it.The Authindicators Working Group (the folks behind the BIMI spec) have just indicated that Apple plans BIMI support! The information published so far suggests that it’s coming this fall to both iOS and MacOS. Beyond that, details are light; so don’t ask me (or them) for greater definition just yet. I’m sure when they have details, they will share. And when they share, I will share.Where does that leave us today? Here’s your status update on ISP support for BIMI as of June, 2022.Yes: Which ISPs/MBPs/email applications support BIMI today or plan to support it in the near future: Apple (iOS and MacOS email clients), Fastmail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. (This also includes Pobox, AOL/Netscape, and Google for Business)Perhaps: Which ISPs are currently considering BIMI support:
Hey! Just a quick note to let you know of an upcoming webinar. This time around the topic is Deliverability 101. What does that mean? The basics. Where to start. What to keep in mind and be aware of to maximize your ability to get to the inbox successfully. This is a beginner level course meant for folks who are new to this whole realm and who are wondering how it all works.My friends at Insightly are hosting and we’ll have an overview of deliverability concepts and best practices, CAN-SPAM basics, what the sending platform does for you (and what is your responsibility) with regard to inbox success, and I’ll also briefly touch on the Kickbox deliverability tools suite and how it can help with monitoring and understanding your deliverability current state.If you’ve been reading Spam Resource for the past ten years and have been sending email marketing for longer
DELIVTERMS: The (almost) weekly series here on Spam Resource that defines deliverability terminology. Today, I’m going to talk about the term Postmaster Site.What is a Postmaster Site? A Postmaster Site (or Page) is a help page or helpful website published by an internet service provider (ISP) or mailbox provider (MBP) that is meant to assist people sending mail to subscribers of that ISP/MBP. If you’re sending mail to Yahoo and that mail gets blocked, the bounce message likely contains a link to specific bounce information that is hosted on Yahoo’s Postmaster Site (or as they like to call it, the Y! Senders Hub).These kind of things are/were called Postmaster Pages (or Sites). Why? Because, “in computers and technology, a postmaster is the administrator of a mail server,” and thus, in many cases, a person dealing with email deliverability issues (especially before the term deliverability was coined) would often be considered an
Today’s guest post is from deliverability expert Alison Gootee. She writes:I’m here to offer some empathy. If you’re experiencing difficulties delivering to Microsoft domains like Hotmail, Live, MSN, and Outlook, you’re not alone! Many industry veterans have reported similar struggles in their efforts to deliver even the best and most desired mail to Microsoft users in recent weeks. People with years (and decades) of experience are reporting longer remediation processes, requests going unanswered, and details being ignored. Microsoft has been in the game for a long time now, so I picture their mail filtering processes as a Rube Goldberg machine made of old rules, new patches, and conflicting priorities, held together by some Dunkaroos crumbs & Fruitopia that have been there since Microsoft bought Hotmail in 1996 (90s snacks were the best, you can’t change my mind). They’re fine with the way things work, though. It’s Microsoft’s world and we’re
An email feedback loop (aka ISP feedback loop or complaint feedback loop) is a spam reporting mechanism implement by an internet service provider (ISP) or mailbox provider (MBP) that allows spam complaints to flow back to the sender or sender’s email platform. Those forwarded “report spam” notifications allow the sender or sending platform to unsubscribe those who complain and also to provide sender feedback to understand which clients, lists or campaigns are causing the highest number or percentage of spam complaints.ISPs and MBPs already collect and correlate spam complaint data for their own uses. When you click the “report spam” button in Gmail, or Outlook.com, Yahoo, or elsewhere, those services capture and log your complaint, to feed into their internal spam filtering systems, to generate reputation-related metrics about the sender. Senders who generate more spam complaints are more likely to find themselves blocked, or to find their mail relegated to the spam…
Julia Evans aka b0rk is somebody smart that I follow on Twitter. She created this super cool tool that I’ve linked to on social media before, called Mess with DNS, providing you with a safe space to learn about DNS by doing — letting you set up DNS records under a test domain she’s got set up — so you can truly “mess with DNS” without breaking anything for your own (or your employer’s) domain.And now she’s back with something new and super cool — a 28-page guide (zine) called “How DNS Works!” Guess what it explains? Yep, how DNS works. Lots and lots of detail here, very useful for somebody who wants to better understand how the domain name service actually works. And when you’ve got the guide in hand (available for a modest fee from her zines website), then head on over to “Mess with DNS” and practice…
Last week I talked about one-click unsubscribe and why I don’t think it’s a great process. Basically, my concern is bot clicks. I’ve seen it happen too many times — email security software will scan an email message body and follow all the links in the message. This triggers a one click unsub and can result in people falling off of an email list. Does it happen in the millions? Possibly not, but when it happens to the client when trying to send to themselves, and suddenly their CEO or CMO is mad that messages are no longer be received, it results in a client angry at a CRM or ESP platform. It’s pain, and it’s self-inflicted pain, and a smart sending platform should try to prevent this pain.TL;DR? One click should really be two click. Go read my prior “hot take” for more details.Anyway, a couple of ISP/MBP (mailbox…
Here’s your fun fact for today: Rapper Rick Ross has never had an email account. Finally, you can answer the question, “Was that email I just got that claimed to be from the famed hip hop artist known for Hustlin’ legit or not?”The more you know.
Last week I explained who Spamhaus is, and today I share a link to a guest blog post over there, authored by Alice Cornell, Director of Email Deliverability at Change.org, explaining her deliverability journal and how she helps guide Change.org to maximize inbox placement and minimize deliverability challenges. It’s worth a read!
DELIVTERMS: The (almost) weekly series here on Spam Resource that defines deliverability terminology. Today, I’m going to talk about Spamhaus.Spamhaus, in the context of my day-to-day role as a deliverability consultant, is perhaps best described as a publisher of anti-spam blocklists.They publish a multitude of blocklists:SBL: Their primary IP address-based blocking list. Spamming companies and ISPs are listed here both manually, based upon review and investigation by somebody at Spamhaus, and also in an automated fashion using logic that results in “CSS” listings on the SBL. Entities listed on the SBL (for reasons other than CSS) typically have to contact Spamhaus to discuss potential resolution to an issue before Spamhaus will remove (“delist”) an IP address. Spamhaus generally (but perhaps not always) wants to talk to the service provider or sending platform more-so than the end client.DBL: Their primary domain-based blocking list. This is run in a fashion more automated…