How do I deal with a Suomispam blacklist listing affecting my email deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from TalosIntelligence explains that you can check your reputation to get insights into your email sending reputation, find out if your IP address or domain has been blacklisted.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares their experience dealing with Suomispam, noting they found them to be unreasonable and that listings do not expire.
Email marketer from EmailVendorSelection explains that you should investigate if the blacklist is actually a problem. If so, they recommend checking your sending practices, contacting the blacklist, using dedicated IPs, and monitoring your sender reputation.
Email marketer from MailerCheck recommends proactive reputation monitoring and automated alerts when issues are detected. Provides tools to check your IP and domain reputation across various blacklists.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that some customers received bounces from it, but the volumes are not material when you look big-picture.
Email marketer from SendGrid recommends setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain, stating that this will improve your authentication and show mailbox providers that you are a legitimate sender.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum recommends contacting Suomispam directly to understand the reason for the listing and the steps required for delisting. They caution that the process may be difficult or require addressing underlying spam issues.
Email marketer from Mailjet advises to segment your contact lists to send more relevant emails. Sending to unengaged contacts can hurt your sender reputation and increase the likelihood of blacklisting.
Email marketer from GlockApps Blog recommends utilizing monitoring tools to identify and address any deliverability issues. Suggests regularly checking your IP and domain reputation with different blacklist authorities, including Suomispam.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests checking if the listing is actually impacting deliverability by monitoring bounce rates and engagement metrics. If the impact is minimal, they advise focusing on other deliverability factors.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce advises using email validation services to remove invalid or inactive email addresses from your list to minimize bounces and spam complaints.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that for most senders they can ignore UCEProtect, but there is a subset of senders for whom they actually affect delivery and RIPE are investigating changing using them as one of two reference lists.
Expert from Email Geeks shares Suomispam's FAQ which states that they do not suggest anyone perform email filtering based on DNSBL lookups on the IP the senders domain resolves to, and that the reason for the listing must go away to delist spamvertized sites.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains how blacklists are not created equal and many have limited or no impact on deliverability.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains it is the senders responsibility to monitor blacklists, to understand their impact and to take action when appropriate. Ignoring blacklists is at your own peril.
What the documentation says6Technical articles
Documentation from RFC details how to setup and the best practices for SPF records and what they are used for in the email sending process. This is a method to prevent email spoofing.
Documentation from BarracudaCentral outlines their listing criteria and removal process. It highlights the importance of maintaining good sending practices and provides a form for requesting delisting after addressing the identified issues.
Documentation from DKIM.org details how to setup and the best practices for DKIM records and what they are used for in the email sending process. It is a method to associate a domain name to an email message, thereby vouching for its authenticity.
Documentation from MailChannels explains the need to maintain a good sending reputation by implementing email authentication standards (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), practicing list hygiene to ensure valid recipients, and monitoring feedback loops to identify and address spam complaints.
Documentation from DMARC.org details how to setup and the best practices for DMARC records and what they are used for in the email sending process. This builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide policy for handling unauthenticated email.
Documentation from Spamhaus explains the steps required for delisting from their blacklist, emphasizing the need to identify and resolve the underlying spam issues that led to the listing. They outline a specific process for requesting removal once the issues are addressed.