How do mailbox providers determine if a business is in a spammy industry?

Email marketer from HubSpot Blog explains that maintaining a clean email list is essential for good deliverability. Removing inactive subscribers, handling bounces promptly, and preventing spam traps are key to improving sender reputation.

Email marketer from Litmus Blog shares that mailbox providers track engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and read times to gauge user interest in emails. Low engagement can signal that emails are unwanted or irrelevant, leading to lower deliverability.

Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares that mailbox providers assess IP address reputation by looking at bounce rates, spam trap hits, and blacklisting status. Senders with poor IP reputation are more likely to have their emails filtered as spam.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that industries aren't targeted, sending practices are. If you happen to be in an industry that uses very scammy practices and/or promotion by affiliates then you are going to get targeted as a sender.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that if your line of work only really sells flashlights, tinnitus solutions, turmeric and walk-in baths then you may run in to issues with being targeted, for sure!

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog shares that feedback loops allow mailbox providers to notify senders when recipients mark their emails as spam. Monitoring and addressing complaints can help senders identify and fix deliverability issues.

Email marketer from Omnisend Blog shares that using a dedicated IP address gives you more control over your sender reputation. By warming up your IP gradually and following best practices, you can build a positive reputation with mailbox providers.

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that content analysis involves scanning email text for spam trigger words, suspicious links, and unusual formatting. Emails with characteristics similar to known spam campaigns are more likely to be filtered.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that at scale, a mailbox provider can identify common threads (e.g., the same affiliate network) across lots of senders that illicit user complaints. That's why some senders think that "they hate our industry" when in fact, they just don't like the sender but the sender thinks that they are too smart for their content to be fingerprinted.

Email marketer from ZeroBounce Blog recommends using email verification services to identify and remove invalid or risky email addresses from your list. This can help reduce bounce rates and improve sender reputation.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor Blog shares that sending frequency can affect deliverability. Sending too many emails can annoy subscribers and lead to increased complaints, while sending too few emails can cause subscribers to forget about your brand.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that providers utilize various spam filtering techniques. They monitor sender reputation, email content, infrastructure setup and user engagement to classify messages. High bounce rates, spam complaints, or poorly configured authentication can lead to spam classification.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that they don't target industries, but certain keywords and phrases that send messages to spam can be triggered and simply removing them or using a different word or phrase will get inbox (based on delivery tools). Certain delivery tools will even flag certain words as phrases as spam content. The reason those keywords are considered more spam like is because of those in the industry tend to not follow best practices.

Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog explains that mailbox providers primarily rely on sender reputation to determine if a business's emails are trustworthy. This reputation is built over time based on factors like complaint rates, engagement metrics, and adherence to authentication protocols.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that mailbox providers check against various email blacklists (like Spamhaus or Barracuda) to identify senders with a history of sending spam. Being listed on a blacklist can severely impact email deliverability.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that mailbox providers rely heavily on sender reputation to filter emails. This reputation is influenced by various factors, including sending volume, complaint rates, engagement metrics, and adherence to authentication standards. A sender with a poor reputation is more likely to be classified as spam, regardless of their industry.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that while mailbox providers don't explicitly categorize businesses by industry, certain industries are statistically more associated with spammy practices. This is because these industries often employ aggressive marketing tactics or have a higher risk of attracting spammers and scammers.

Expert from Spamresource.com shares that hitting spam traps can be a significant indicator of poor list hygiene and spammy practices, regardless of the industry. Mailbox providers use spam traps to identify senders who are not properly managing their email lists, potentially indicating a higher risk of sending unsolicited or unwanted emails.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that filters tend not to make an “industry” determination directly. It is more about whether people in that industry tend to employ best practices. So it’s not so much that the industry is a mechanical indicator, it’s a shorthand to the humans involved that a given client is likely to have problems.

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that Outlook.com employs sophisticated anti-spam filters that consider factors like content, sender reputation, and user feedback. Microsoft actively monitors email traffic to identify and block spammers.

Documentation from RFC Editor describes email authentication methods like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protocols allow senders to verify their identity and improve email deliverability by preventing spoofing and phishing.

Documentation from SparkPost explains that using deliverability monitoring tools allows senders to track key metrics like inbox placement rate, spam folder rate, and IP reputation. These tools provide insights into deliverability performance and help identify potential issues.

Documentation from Google Support outlines that Gmail uses various signals to identify spam, including user reports, email content, and sender information. Google's algorithms analyze these signals to classify senders and filter messages accordingly.