What does it mean if an IP address has a SenderScore of 10?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Quora recommends to check the IP against multiple blacklist databases and to investigate complaint feedback loops.
Email marketer from SparkPost (now MessageBird) responds that a Sender Score of 10 signifies serious issues and the IP address likely has a poor reputation. They recommend improving sending practices by authenticating email, cleaning email lists, and warming up new IPs.
Email marketer from Webmaster Forum responds that if an IP has a Sender Score of 10, you need to immediately investigate for potential compromise, check blacklists, and ensure you are not sending unsolicited emails.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that a Sender Score of 10 indicates that the IP is likely being blocked by many ISPs or filtered to the spam folder and that almost no emails are delivered to the inbox.
Email marketer from Small Business Chron shares the importance of maintaining a healthy SenderScore by regularly cleaning email lists, segmenting audiences, and personalizing content.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that a low Sender Score could be due to various factors including spam complaints, sending to invalid email addresses (high bounce rate), being listed on blacklists, and low engagement rates.
Email marketer from an Email Provider Knowledge Base explains that a Sender Score of 10 would mean almost every mail you send is going to get marked as spam, as ISPs will have little to no trust of your IP address and domains.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that they found a bounce referencing SenderScore from bigpond.com indicating a low SenderScore.
Marketer from Email Geeks asks if the IP is new, suggesting low scores are common on unwarmed IPs after untargeted blasts.
Email marketer from GlockApps states the importance of monitoring Senderscore as part of a wider deliverability review.
Marketer from Email Geeks confirms the SenderScore is 10.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum answers that with a Sender Score of 10, even low volume sending will likely result in deliverability issues, as the negative reputation precedes the volume.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks responds that SenderScore is a useful data point.
Expert from Spam Resource recommends immediate investigation into the cause, including checking blocklist status, reviewing recent sending practices for anomalies, and verifying email list hygiene. It's also recommended to temporarily reduce sending volume to allow for investigation and remediation.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a low sender score of 10 indicates significant problems with sending practices, potentially including being listed on blocklists, high complaint rates, or hitting spam traps. They emphasize that Sender Score is just one of many signals ISPs use, but a very low score is a strong indicator of deliverability problems.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Senderscore FAQ explains that Senderscore measure's factors include complaints, external blacklists, your infrastructure, spam trap hits and sending volumes.
Documentation from Google explains that while they don't use Sender Score directly, a low Sender Score often correlates with poor IP reputation and that Google uses its own similar metrics to assess senders, which can impact deliverability to Gmail users.
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that although they don't directly use Senderscore, but the general metrics that they use for IP reputation are similar, so a low Senderscore would correspond to low IP reputation. Microsoft's Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) provides data about your IP's reputation with Microsoft.
Documentation from Validity, acquired ReturnPath, explains that a Sender Score of 10 is very poor and indicates significant issues with sending practices, potentially leading to deliverability problems.