How can I check historical email traffic volume for an IP address?
Summary
What email marketers say7Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Warmup Inbox shares that using a warmup inbox tool can create the reputation for an IP address. This builds a reputation through steady volume.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that querying DNS records (like PTR records) can sometimes reveal information about the IP's owner and purpose, which can provide context for its email sending behavior over time. It's not direct volume data, but helpful context.
Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog explains that IP reputation services analyze various factors, including email volume, to assess an IP address's trustworthiness. Checking an IP's reputation can give insights into its historical sending patterns.
Email marketer from Sender Score explains that their service provides a score (0-100) reflecting an IP address's email sending reputation. While not directly showing historical volume, a consistently low score indicates a history of high-volume spam or poor sending practices.
Email marketer from Talos Intelligence explains that Talos offers reputation lookups that can provide insights into an IP address's email sending history. It may not give exact volume figures but indicates whether the IP has been associated with spam or malicious activity.
Email marketer from StackExchange explains that passive DNS services record historical DNS resolutions, providing a timeline of IP address associations with domains. This can indirectly indicate how actively an IP has been used for email sending.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that checking various email blacklists can indicate if an IP has been associated with high-volume spam sending in the past. Historical blacklist entries suggest a history of questionable email practices.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that Talos will provide a short history of email volume (last 10 days).
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that monitoring services like senderscore might have the history of email volume associated with an IP address, or at least a metric that correlates with it.
Expert from Email Geeks states that for delivery purposes, if an IP address has been unused for 3-6 months, it's essentially considered new for email.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that querying Spamhaus's various blocklists (like the SBL, XBL, and PBL) can reveal if an IP address has a history of sending spam. If an IP shows up on these lists, it suggests a past pattern of high-volume, unwanted email activity.
Expert from Email Geeks advises using Validity's lookup form to check an IP address's reputation without directly engaging with their sales channel.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that IP address reputation is crucial for email deliverability. A history of good sending practices (low spam complaints, proper authentication) contributes to a positive reputation, making it more likely that future emails will reach the inbox. Monitoring IP reputation services provides insight into this history.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Spamhaus explains that by checking the reputation with Spamhaus you can understand an IPs previous behavior that caused it to be listed.
Documentation from MXToolbox explains that MXToolbox offers IP reputation monitoring, checking blacklists and providing some historical data on an IP's status. It can help determine if an IP has a history of being flagged for spam, indicating previous high-volume sending.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that if you own the IP address, Google Postmaster Tools provides detailed analytics on email traffic, including volume, spam reports, and delivery rates. This data can give you a historical view of your email sending patterns.
Documentation from Amazon shares that using their product you can monitor sending statistics that helps understand the volume that has been sent.
Documentation from Cisco explains that their email security products analyze IP reputation and historical email activity to filter spam and malicious emails. Examining logs and reports from these systems can provide insights into an IP's historical sending volume.