What are the risks of resending email confirmations to unconfirmed addresses?

Summary

Resending email confirmations to unconfirmed addresses presents numerous risks to email deliverability, sender reputation, and legal compliance. Experts and documentation sources agree that this practice can lead to increased spam complaints, higher bounce rates, blacklisting, and violations of privacy regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM. Damaged sender reputation, negatively impacted IP reputation, and reduced engagement are also significant concerns. Maintaining good list hygiene, obtaining explicit consent, and monitoring engagement metrics are crucial for avoiding these pitfalls.

Key findings

  • Damaged Reputation: Sending to unconfirmed addresses damages sender and IP reputation, leading to deliverability issues.
  • Increased Spam: Repeatedly sending to unconfirmed addresses increases the likelihood of being flagged as spam.
  • Compliance Violations: Sending without explicit consent violates privacy regulations and industry best practices.
  • Poor Engagement: Low engagement from unconfirmed addresses signals low quality to ISPs, affecting deliverability.
  • Technical Standards Breach: Sending to unverified addresses violates established email standards.

Key considerations

  • Consent: Obtain explicit consent before sending emails to comply with regulations and improve engagement.
  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove unengaged users and maintain a healthy sender reputation.
  • Monitoring: Monitor engagement metrics, spam complaints, and bounce rates to identify and address potential issues.
  • List Validation: Implement robust list validation processes to ensure email addresses are valid and active.
  • Compliance Awareness: Stay updated on email marketing regulations and best practices to avoid legal repercussions.

What email marketers say
9Marketer opinions

Resending confirmation emails to unconfirmed addresses poses significant risks to email deliverability and sender reputation. This practice can lead to increased spam complaints, higher bounce rates, and potential blacklisting. Additionally, it may violate privacy regulations such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM, and is considered a poor email marketing practice that negatively impacts engagement and wastes resources.

Key opinions

  • Reputation Damage: Sending to unconfirmed addresses harms sender reputation, leading to spam folder placement or blocked emails.
  • Low Engagement: Low engagement from unconfirmed recipients signals low quality to ISPs, negatively impacting deliverability.
  • High Bounce Rates: Unvalidated lists result in high hard bounce rates, damaging sender reputation.
  • Regulatory Violations: Sending without explicit consent violates privacy regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
  • Resource Waste: Repeatedly emailing inactive addresses is counterproductive and consumes resources without generating results.

Key considerations

  • List Validation: Implement robust list validation processes to ensure email addresses are valid and active.
  • Consent Practices: Prioritize obtaining explicit consent from subscribers before sending any emails.
  • Engagement Metrics: Monitor engagement metrics closely to identify and remove unengaged subscribers.
  • Deliverability Monitoring: Use tools to monitor sender reputation and deliverability to identify and address potential issues promptly.
  • Legal Compliance: Ensure email marketing practices comply with all applicable privacy regulations and terms of service.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailchimp states that sending to unconfirmed email addresses violates their terms of service and industry best practices for consent-based marketing. They emphasize the importance of verifiable permission before sending any marketing emails.

July 2021 - Mailchimp
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that sending to unconfirmed addresses can severely damage your sender reputation. ISPs use engagement metrics to assess sender quality. Low engagement from unconfirmed addresses (e.g., opens, clicks) signals low quality, leading to placement in spam folders.

August 2024 - Email on Acid
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that resending confirmation emails to unconfirmed addresses poses risks to sender reputation, deliverability, and compliance. Unengaged recipients may mark emails as spam, increasing bounce rates and potentially leading to blacklisting. Furthermore, sending to addresses without consent violates GDPR and other privacy regulations.

September 2021 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign discusses how sending emails to unconfirmed recipients results in low engagement rates. Low engagement signals to ISPs that your email content is not relevant or desired, leading to decreased deliverability.

November 2022 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sender Score reports that sending to unvalidated email lists results in high hard bounce rates. Hard bounces indicate invalid email addresses and negatively affect sender reputation with ISPs. Maintaining a clean and validated list is crucial for optimal deliverability.

October 2024 - Sender Score
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus emphasizes that best practice dictates obtaining explicit consent before sending emails. Sending to unconfirmed addresses violates this principle and can lead to legal repercussions under CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

May 2022 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailMarketingPro Forum reports that repeatedly sending confirmation emails to inactive addresses is counterproductive and wasteful. It consumes resources without yielding results. Focus should be on engaging confirmed and active subscribers.

December 2022 - EmailMarketingPro Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit states that repeatedly emailing unconfirmed addresses is a common 'no-no' in email marketing. It can lead to your domain being flagged and negatively impacts the entire email program.

July 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot explains that consistently sending emails to unconfirmed addresses damages sender reputation. This reputation affects where your emails land – inbox, spam, or blocked. A good sender reputation is essential for email marketing success.

November 2021 - HubSpot

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Resending email confirmations to unconfirmed addresses poses risks to email deliverability and sender reputation. Experts highlight the possibility of sending emails to the wrong person, the potential for being flagged as spam, and the importance of good list hygiene. They advise weighing the risks of reputation damage and poor delivery against the potential return, and emphasize the importance of cleaning email lists to remove unengaged users, which improves deliverability.

Key opinions

  • Risk of Sending to Wrong Person: Unconfirmed emails might not belong to the intended recipient.
  • Increased Spam Risk: Repeatedly sending to unconfirmed addresses increases the likelihood of being flagged as spam.
  • Damage to Sender Reputation: Sending to potentially non-existent or uninterested recipients damages sender reputation, making recovery difficult.
  • Importance of List Hygiene: Maintaining a clean email list by removing unengaged users is crucial for optimal deliverability.

Key considerations

  • Risk vs. Return: Carefully consider the potential risks of reputation damage and poor delivery against the expected return on investment.
  • Clean Email Lists: Regularly clean email lists to remove unengaged users, improving deliverability and sender reputation.
  • Engagement Monitoring: Monitor engagement metrics closely to identify potential spam activity.
Expert view

Expert from SpamResource explains that repeatedly sending to unconfirmed addresses significantly increases the likelihood of being flagged as spam. ISPs and mailbox providers closely monitor engagement metrics, and low engagement from these recipients signals potential spam activity.

October 2022 - SpamResource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that an unconfirmed email may not belong to the intended person and that sending mail to people who haven't confirmed and aren't using the service isn't a good idea if it won't bring in much revenue. Also advises to consider the risks of reputation loss and poor delivery against the expected return.

May 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that sending a lot of mail to recipient email addresses you've not sent to before that may not exist and if they do exist may not have asked for the email is a bad idea. It can damage the reputation of your mail stream that can take a long time and a lot of work to recover from, effort and resources that could be spent more profitably elsewhere.

January 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) responds that good list hygiene is vital. Regularly cleaning your email list by removing unengaged users, including those who haven't confirmed, will help keep your email deliverability rates up. This means fewer bounces, less chance of hitting spam traps, and a better sender reputation overall.

September 2021 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Sending emails to unconfirmed addresses carries significant risks, as highlighted by several documentation sources. These risks include violating established email standards, leading to increased spam complaint rates (particularly affecting Gmail deliverability), damaging IP reputation (impacting deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail users), and ultimately leading to deliverability issues such as emails landing in spam folders or being blocked by ISPs.

Key findings

  • Standards Violation: Sending emails to unverified addresses violates established email standards.
  • Increased Spam Complaints: Sending to unconfirmed addresses leads to higher spam complaint rates, particularly affecting Gmail deliverability.
  • Damaged IP Reputation: Sending to inactive or invalid addresses negatively impacts IP reputation, affecting deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail users.
  • Deliverability Issues: Practices negatively affect sender reputation which can lead to emails landing in spam or being blocked altogether.

Key considerations

  • Email Verification: Implement email verification processes to ensure addresses are valid and active.
  • Monitor Spam Rates: Monitor spam complaint rates and address any issues promptly to maintain deliverability.
  • IP Reputation Management: Pay attention to IP reputation and take steps to improve it if necessary.
  • Adhere to Standards: Ensure email practices adhere to established email standards and best practices.
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost outlines that the practice of sending to unconfirmed email addresses negatively impacts sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. These issues can manifest as emails landing in spam folders or being blocked completely by ISPs.

January 2023 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that sending emails to unconfirmed recipients impacts IP reputation. Microsoft's Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) tracks sending behavior. Sending to inactive or invalid addresses contributes to negative IP reputation scores, affecting deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail users.

September 2022 - Microsoft SNDS
Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor explains that sending emails to unverified addresses violates established email standards (RFC 5321, section 3.1) by potentially directing messages to unintended recipients or generating unwanted traffic. This can negatively impact the overall email ecosystem.

November 2022 - RFC Editor
Technical article

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools outlines that consistently sending emails to unconfirmed addresses leads to increased spam complaint rates. High spam rates directly impact deliverability to Gmail users. Google actively filters emails from senders with elevated spam complaint levels.

March 2025 - Google Postmaster Tools