What tools or methods can be used to monitor spam rates on a per-user basis within a domain?

Summary

Monitoring spam rates on a per-user basis within a domain requires a comprehensive approach combining technical tools, policy implementation, and continuous monitoring. Due to the lack of direct per-user spam feedback from providers, alternative strategies are essential. These include leveraging platform-specific tools like Google Workspace Admin's Email Log Search and Microsoft Defender's Spoof intelligence, tracking negative engagement metrics (unsubscribes, complaints, low open rates), and analyzing DMARC reports to identify authentication failures. Setting up abuse aliases and feedback loops, while not always providing individual data, helps uncover problematic patterns. Regular manual audits, particularly within affiliate marketing, are critical. Implementing internal policies for CAN-SPAM compliance, training the sales team, educating users on avoiding spam triggers, and email warming-up are crucial preventative measures. If using a dedicated IP (Postmark) or Google Workspace, reputation and volume limits must be closely monitored. Since there's a lack of comprehensive dashboards, active enforcement and addressing repeat offenders is key. Finally it is useful to focus on negative metrics such as unsub rates, bounce rates and negative replies.

Key findings

  • Limited Direct Feedback: Email providers generally do not offer direct, per-user spam flag data.
  • Platform-Specific Tools: Google Workspace Admin, Microsoft Defender, SparkPost, and Postmark offer tools for investigating spam and spoofing.
  • Negative Engagement Signals: High unsubscribe/complaint rates, low open rates can indicate potential spam activity.
  • DMARC Authentication Failures: DMARC reports identify users whose emails fail authentication, suggesting spam or spoofing.
  • Abuse Aliases and Feedback Loops: Provide indirect insights into spam patterns through user reports and complaint aggregation.
  • Manual Audits: Essential for detecting non-compliant practices, especially in affiliate marketing.
  • Internal Policy Enforcement: Vital for CAN-SPAM compliance and maintaining a positive sending reputation.
  • Lack of Comprehensive Dashboards: Managing per-user spam requires a combination of tools and manual analysis.

Key considerations

  • Proactive Prevention: Training sales teams, educating users, and email warming-up help prevent spam issues.
  • Affiliate Monitoring: Strictly monitor affiliates and their practices to prevent spam issues.
  • Volume Limits and Reputation: Closely monitor sending volume limits and IP reputation, especially with dedicated IPs or Google Workspace.
  • Enforcement: Implement consequences for repeat offenders to deter future spam activity.
  • Legal Requirements: Email practices should meet legal requirements like CAN-SPAM, PECR and GDPR

What email marketers say
9Marketer opinions

Monitoring spam rates on a per-user basis within a domain involves a multi-faceted approach. It encompasses tracking negative email metrics like unsubscribes and negative replies, leveraging DMARC reports to pinpoint authentication failures, and scrutinizing bounce and complaint rates provided by ESPs. Regular manual audits of email practices, coupled with monitoring engagement metrics and setting up feedback loops with ISPs, offer valuable insights. Proactive measures such as sales team training, user education on avoiding spam triggers, and email warming-up are also crucial for mitigating spam risks.

Key opinions

  • Negative Metrics: Tracking unsubscribes and negative replies provides direct insight into user dissatisfaction.
  • DMARC Reports: DMARC reports help identify users whose emails fail authentication, suggesting potential spam activity.
  • ESP Metrics: Monitoring bounce and complaint rates within your ESP allows for identifying problematic senders.
  • Manual Audits: Regular audits of email content, frequency, and list management can uncover risky behaviors.
  • Engagement Metrics: Consistently low engagement (opens, clicks) from a user's emails may indicate spam practices.
  • Feedback Loops: FBLs provide data about user complaints, although not always on a per-user basis.

Key considerations

  • Sales Training: Educating the sales team on best practices reduces spam flags and improves overall deliverability.
  • User Education: Informing users on how to write emails that are less likely to be flagged as spam is important.
  • Email Warming: Gradually increasing email volume from new IPs establishes a positive reputation and avoids spam filters.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests focusing on negative metrics such as unsub rates and negative replies back to the sender.

March 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Stackoverflow suggests user education about writing email that does not look like spam. For example to avoid certain key words.

April 2024 - Stackoverflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from Gmass shares that while not automated, regularly auditing the email sending practices of individual users can help identify risky behavior. This includes reviewing email content, send frequency, and list management practices.

October 2021 - Gmass
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit r/sales suggests focusing on training your sales team on best practices for outbound sales and cold outreach. Following legal requirements, CAN-SPAM, and privacy best practices reduces your chances of being flagged as spam.

January 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit r/emailmarketing suggests to monitor bounce rates and complaint rates from your ESP or email provider. Some providers offer features to track these metrics on a per-user or per-campaign basis which can highlight problematic sending behavior.

September 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares setting up feedback loops (FBLs) with major ISPs can provide valuable data about user complaints. While FBLs often don't provide per-user data directly, analyzing complaint patterns can help identify potential problem areas within your domain.

July 2023 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailtrap Blog shares that DMARC reporting tools aggregate data from email receivers and provide insights into sending sources. By analyzing these reports, you can identify which users are sending email that fails authentication checks, potentially indicating spam activity.

August 2022 - Mailtrap Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from SuperOffice answers that monitoring email engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions can indicate potential issues. Consistently low engagement from emails sent by specific users might suggest they're engaging in spammy practices.

February 2023 - SuperOffice
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendgrid suggests email warming up which is gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from a new IP address or domain to establish a positive reputation with ISPs (Internet Service Providers). This helps avoid being flagged as a spammer. Sendgrid suggests tools like Warm Up Your IP.

January 2025 - Sendgrid

What the experts say
10Expert opinions

Monitoring spam rates on a per-user basis within a domain is challenging due to the limited data provided by email providers. While direct feedback loops for individual spam flags are unavailable, establishing an abuse alias, tracking unsubscribe numbers, and complying with GDPR and CAN-SPAM regulations are crucial. Internal monitoring to ensure CAN-SPAM compliance, especially within affiliate marketing programs, is essential. If using Google, tracking account shutdowns due to volume violations is recommended. Ultimately, addressing the root cause by enforcing policies and addressing repeat offenders is key, as simply moving to cousin domains is a common workaround for bad actors. Tools providing comprehensive dashboards for management are largely absent in the B2B spam space, emphasizing the importance of manual oversight and policy enforcement.

Key opinions

  • Limited Data Availability: Direct feedback loops for per-user spam flags are generally not available from email providers.
  • Abuse Alias: Establishing and actively monitoring an abuse alias helps identify problematic senders.
  • Unsubscribe Tracking: Monitoring and honoring unsubscribe requests is crucial for compliance and reducing spam complaints.
  • Compliance: Complying with GDPR and CAN-SPAM regulations is essential for maintaining a legitimate sending reputation.
  • Internal Monitoring: Implementing internal monitoring systems ensures CAN-SPAM compliance for all outbound emails.
  • Affiliate Monitoring: Carefully monitoring affiliates for compliance with best practices and regulations is crucial to prevent spam issues.
  • Google Account Tracking: If using Google, tracking account shutdowns due to volume violations can identify problematic users.
  • Lack of Dashboard Tools: Comprehensive dashboard tools for managing per-user spam rates are generally lacking in the B2B space.

Key considerations

  • Enforcement: Enforcing policies and taking action against repeat offenders is critical for maintaining a healthy sending reputation.
  • Policy Implementation: Implementing a robust internal policy for email marketing, outbound sales, affiliate marketing that is designed to be CAN-SPAM compliant.
  • Policy Enforcement: Being able to ensure the policy is being followed through monitoring and training programs
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks responds that if you can’t fire or impact the sales bonuses of employees trashing domain reputation, it's time wasted, and they'll just move to cousin domains.

February 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says to respond to GDPR data requests to look legit.

April 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares to get unsubscribe numbers, actually remove unsubscribed users, and have a policy available for reporting mail.

June 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares to have an abuse alias, publish it, and read it to get pointers about bad users.

August 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes that internal monitoring is crucial. Implementing a system to ensure all outbound emails comply with CAN-SPAM regulations can significantly reduce spam complaints. This includes verifying unsubscribe links, physical addresses, and clear identification of the sender.

March 2024 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource shares that if you are doing affiliate marketing be extra careful to monitor affiliates to ensure that they follow best practices and CAN-SPAM requirements, because this is a common source of spam.

April 2023 - Spam Resource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that there isn't a tool to give you a dashboard or reports to share with management, as the data isn't available in the B2B spam space.

December 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares to comply with CAN SPAM.

May 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that if you're sending mail through Google, track who gets shut down for violating outbound volume numbers.

October 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that companies don't provide data back to the sender regarding individual user spam flags, so there aren't feedback loops for that.

July 2021 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Monitoring spam rates on a per-user basis within a domain involves utilizing platform-specific tools and techniques. Google Workspace admins can leverage the Email Log Search to investigate spam reports, filtering by sender, recipient, and date. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers Spoof intelligence insight to identify and prevent spoofing attempts, highlighting potential malicious outbound email patterns. SparkPost's webhooks provide real-time data on email events, enabling correlation with user IDs for insights into individual sending behavior. For high-volume senders, Postmark suggests using a dedicated IP address to gain greater control over reputation, emphasizing the importance of monitoring the IP's reputation.

Key findings

  • Google Email Log Search: Google Workspace admins can filter by sender, recipient, and date to investigate spam reports.
  • Microsoft Spoof Intelligence: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 identifies spoofing attempts and malicious outbound email patterns.
  • SparkPost Webhooks: SparkPost offers real-time event data (bounces, deliveries, complaints) for individual sending behavior analysis.
  • Dedicated IP Address: Postmark suggests dedicated IP addresses for high-volume senders, requiring diligent reputation monitoring.

Key considerations

  • Platform Specificity: The available tools and methods depend on the specific email platform (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.).
  • Correlation Required: Tools like SparkPost webhooks require correlating event data with user IDs for per-user analysis.
  • Reputation Monitoring: Maintaining and monitoring IP reputation is crucial when using dedicated IP addresses.
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost shares that webhooks can be used to receive real-time data about email events like bounces, deliveries, and complaints. By correlating this data with user IDs or sender information, you can gain insights into individual sending behavior.

May 2022 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft Defender for Office 365 explains the Spoof intelligence insight, which helps identify and prevent spoofing attempts. While not directly per-user, it can highlight patterns of potentially malicious outbound email originating from within the domain.

March 2022 - Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Technical article

Documentation from Postmark explains that for senders with high email volume, using a dedicated IP address can provide greater control over reputation. Monitoring the reputation of this IP address is crucial for identifying potential spam issues.

December 2021 - Postmark
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that admins can use the Email Log Search in the Google Admin console to investigate spam reports. This allows filtering by sender, recipient, and date to identify potential problem users.

February 2023 - Google Workspace Admin Help