Should I suppress Apple private relay addresses and how to handle them?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from an Email Marketing Forum advises to have a clear bounce management strategy. He recommends automatically removing hard bounces and carefully monitoring soft bounces, as a high soft bounce rate can negatively impact sender reputation.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog explains the significance of maintaining a clean email list. They recommend removing inactive subscribers and addresses that generate bounces or complaints.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests using a welcome series of 1-3 emails and only sending to those who positively engaged to ensure the remaining addresses are deliverable and capable of opening as an alternative to DOI.
Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog states that maintaining a clean email list is critical for deliverability. They recommend regularly removing inactive subscribers and addresses that generate bounces or complaints.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that segmenting based on prior engagement will automatically exclude soft bounces in Braze, although notes this depends on the timeframe.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog recommends using list segmentation to target only engaged subscribers. Removing inactive or unengaged subscribers can improve overall deliverability and engagement rates.
Marketer from Email Geeks clarifies that in Braze, "received" in the "Received Message from Canvas Step" filter likely means _sent_, not _delivered_.
Email marketer from Reddit shares a personal experience, suggesting that while private relay addresses are legitimate, it's crucial to monitor their engagement. If they consistently soft bounce, consider suppressing them to protect your sending reputation.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor Blog explains that hard bounces indicate a permanent delivery failure and should be immediately removed from the list. Soft bounces are temporary and may resolve, but persistent soft bounces should also be suppressed.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog recommends using double opt-in to ensure subscribers are genuinely interested and regularly cleaning your list to remove unengaged users. They suggest segmenting and targeting based on engagement to improve deliverability.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog advises using double opt-in to ensure subscribers are genuinely interested and regularly cleaning your list to remove unengaged users. They suggest segmenting and targeting based on engagement to improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog emphasizes the importance of bounce management. They advise automatically removing hard bounces from your list and carefully monitoring soft bounces, as a high soft bounce rate can damage your sender reputation.
What the experts say7Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks recommends CAPTCHA and double opt-in if you are receiving private relay addresses through legit signup forms. He shares an experience where disabling CAPTCHA led to spam complaints, highlighting the importance of both CAPTCHA and double opt-in.
Expert from Email Geeks advises to treat Apple private relay addresses like any other user email address and suppress them if they are not deliverable, implying that soft bounces should lead to suppression.
Expert from Spamresource.com explains the differences between Private Relay and Hide My Email, noting that Private Relay obscures the IP address and browsing activity, while Hide My Email creates a unique, random email address that forwards to the user's real inbox. He also suggests that they both can affect email deliverability and need to be monitored for engagement.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that sending to private Apple addresses (<mailto:i@privaterelay.appleid.com|@privaterelay.appleid.com>) is generally fine if the user signed up directly and you're registered with Apple. He also warns about using third-party lead data.
Expert from Email Geeks advises to investigate where the <http://privaterelay.appleid.com|privaterelay.appleid.com> addresses are coming from, especially if the product team isn't set up for it, and clarifies they're legitimate emails when users choose not to share their email address when installing an app.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that users who use Apple private email addresses are likely real and interested. He also cautions against purchased lists as a source of these addresses.
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of having a robust bounce management system, particularly for soft bounces. They recommend segmenting based on bounce frequency and recency, and adjusting sending practices accordingly. Ignoring soft bounces can lead to deliverability issues.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Apple Developer Documentation explains that the Private Email Relay service allows users to share a unique, random email address with websites or apps, forwarding messages to their personal inbox. This helps protect their actual email address.
Documentation from SparkPost Documentation explains that suppression lists are crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation. They recommend automatically suppressing addresses that hard bounce or generate complaints, and to consider soft bounces depending on the context.
Documentation from AWS details how Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) handles bounces and complaints. It explains how to set up notifications for bounces and complaints and emphasizes the importance of removing these addresses from your sending list to maintain a good sender reputation.
Documentation from Braze Documentation details how to configure Braze to properly handle Apple's Private Email Relay, including specific settings for custom domains and authentication to ensure deliverability to these addresses.