What does a red filter result in SNDS mean, and how does it relate to email deliverability and SmartScreen?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Geeks recommends sending a test email to an Outlook inbox to verify, as a `red` score will very much line up with high spam foldering.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum mentions that a red filter in SNDS may be caused by problematic content, such as spam trigger words or excessive use of images, that the SmartScreen filter identifies as suspicious.
Email marketer from EmailGeeks Community suggests that SNDS data isn't always perfectly accurate but a red filter is a strong indicator to check overall sending practices as deliverability is likely impacted.
Email marketer from Sendgrid Blog emphasizes the significance of list hygiene, removing inactive or unengaged subscribers, to improve sender reputation and avoid issues with SmartScreen and SNDS.
Email marketer from Gmass Blog recommends regularly testing inbox placement using tools like GlockApps or Mail-Tester to understand where your emails are landing and identify potential issues flagged by SmartScreen.
Email marketer from Reddit r/emailmarketing states that a poor sender reputation can lead to a red filter in SNDS. Building and maintaining a positive reputation is crucial for avoiding spam filters.
Email marketer from MarketingProfs Forum suggests that low engagement rates (opens, clicks) can negatively affect your sender reputation and lead to a red filter in SNDS as SmartScreen might interpret low engagement as spam.
Email marketer from Email Deliverability Blog shares that a red filter in SNDS often correlates with deliverability issues. It suggests Microsoft's SmartScreen filter is identifying your mail as potentially unwanted, leading to placement in the junk folder or blocking.
Email marketer from StackOverflow points out that high bounce rates can negatively affect sender reputation and trigger a red filter in SNDS, as SmartScreen might identify the sender as engaging in poor list practices.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that SNDS' colored alerts don't always align with delivery results, which is a common complaint about SNDS + JRMP. He suggests using them as loose guidelines, as the Filter Result assessments are not always accurate.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog highlights the importance of reviewing email content, including links, and code, as SmartScreen heavily relies on these parameters to categorize emails as spam.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the colour codes are based on how SmartScreen views your mail. Green is good, Yellow is suspicious, Red is likely spam. It's not tied to domain or IP filtering. Also a low FBL could be because mail is going to the spam folder already so you can't report them as spam.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that SNDS data provides insight into how Microsoft views your mail stream. A red filter result indicates that Microsoft's SmartScreen filter is categorizing a significant portion of your mail as spam, potentially leading to deliverability problems specifically with Outlook.com and Hotmail.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that while a red filter in SNDS can be alarming, it's essential to correlate it with other data points like complaint rates and actual inbox placement. A red filter alone doesn't guarantee deliverability issues, but it warrants further investigation.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends looking at your content, URLs, and code for suspicious elements.
Expert from Email Geeks says that SmartScreen issues with your content may not impact inboxing ability if your IP/Domain reputation is good.
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that Smart Screen is the Microsoft content filter, and your content quality doesn't directly dictate inbox placement.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Spamhaus Documentation explains that maintaining a clean IP reputation is essential for deliverability. Blacklists like Spamhaus are considered by SmartScreen, and listing can severely impact inbox placement.
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS Documentation explains that the filter results in SNDS show the aggregate results of spam filtering applied to messages sent by the IP address during a given period. A red filter indicates a higher percentage of messages from that IP were classified as spam by Microsoft's filters.
Documentation from RFC Documentation highlights the importance of implementing SPF, DKIM and DMARC standards for email authentication. Smartscreen and many email services use this to verify senders are who they say they are, which improves deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS FAQ advises reviewing sending practices, ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and monitoring complaint rates to improve SNDS filter results and overall deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft SmartScreen Documentation explains that the SmartScreen filter evaluates various signals from the email, including content, links, and sender reputation, to determine if the email is potentially malicious or unwanted. The results impact deliverability to the inbox.