What does a sudden dip in Yahoo FBL complaints indicate for email senders?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that a decrease in FBL complaints might seem positive but can be a sign of deliverability problems. Emails might be going directly to spam, bypassing the inbox entirely. Monitoring inbox placement is crucial.
Marketer from Email Geeks responds to a question about a sudden dip in FBL complaints from yahoo/SBC, noting that there were no related changes in other metrics like opens or clicks that would indicate a reputation issue.
Email marketer from Reddit mentions that a drop could also mean a segment of your list has gone inactive or been suppressed. Check your list hygiene practices to ensure you're sending to engaged users.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that there was an issue on their side that they have now fixed. Reports should now be back to normal volume, though all missing for the past week will come also.
Email marketer from StackExchange mentions it could mean more engagement, but to check deliverability and your deliverability tools.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that a sudden drop in anything can be for bad reason, even bad things.
Email marketer from Validity explains that decreasing complaint rates may seem good, but you should always dive deeper. Determine whether deliverability is suffering and how your inbox placement is trending.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares that a lower complaint rate can hide the fact that emails are going to spam. Therefore, check inbox placement, authentication and IP/domain reputation to see if you have deliverability problems.
Email marketer from Mailgun explains that a significant drop in feedback loop (FBL) complaints could suggest deliverability issues. If emails are being filtered into spam folders, recipients are less likely to mark them as complaints. Check deliverability metrics alongside FBL data.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that a lack of complaints could mean messages are going to spam, but open/click metrics hadn't changed which indicated reputation issue.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that improved email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) can affect complaint rates. Ensure you're properly authenticated. Poor authentication affects deliverability.
Email marketer from StackOverflow shares a response to a similar post about Yahoo changing spam filtering rules. They mention an algorithm change to aggressively filter spam so it may be caused by Yahoo themselves.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Spamresource explains that a drop in complaints isn't necessarily positive and should be investigated. Reduced complaints can sometimes indicate that emails are being delivered to the spam folder rather than the inbox, meaning the recipients are not seeing them, and therefore not marking them as spam.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that drops in complaint rates can suggest issues with inbox placement; that lower complaints could mean lower engagement (because your messages aren't being delivered), so inboxing rates should be monitored.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from RFC details that temporary delivery failures may cause a drop in engagement and reported complaints. If a large portion of your email is failing, then fewer emails will be read and less likely to be complained about. If this lines up with a drop in FBL it may be a cause.
Documentation from Yahoo explains that FBLs are intended to help senders identify and correct issues that lead to complaints. A sudden drop *could* mean improved practices, but warrants investigation to ensure emails are reaching the inbox.
Documentation from SparkPost answers a question about how FBL complaints provide insight into delivery issues. Check deliverability and volume to see whether deliverability is the cause of the drop.