Why are emails being marked as junk or phishing in Outlook 365?

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares they've observed a significant rise in O365 customers reporting that their 'Forgot Password' emails are being quarantined and flagged as phishing risks, also observing that Microsoft is now clicking links, causing issues with single-use links expiring before user interaction.

Email marketer from Litmus shares that tracking email engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates helps identify issues affecting deliverability. Low engagement can signal spam filters that your emails are unwanted.

Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that using spam trigger words, excessive capitalization, or poor HTML coding can cause emails to be flagged as junk. Ensuring clean, well-formatted content is essential for improving deliverability.

Email marketer from Gmass shares that personalizing emails and avoiding generic content can help bypass spam filters. Tailoring emails to individual recipients makes them less likely to be marked as junk.

Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that regular list cleaning and validation helps to remove invalid or inactive email addresses, thus reducing bounce rates and improving sender reputation, and reducing the risk of being marked as junk.

Email marketer from HubSpot shares that avoiding URL shorteners in emails can help prevent spam classifications. Spam filters often flag emails with shortened URLs as suspicious, so using full URLs is recommended.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that improving email deliverability in Outlook requires ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining a clean sending reputation by avoiding spam traps and high bounce rates, and segmenting email lists to send targeted content that recipients are more likely to engage with.

Email marketer from Sendinblue explains that using double opt-in ensures that subscribers genuinely want to receive emails, reducing the likelihood of spam complaints and improving sender reputation.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum answers that sending too many emails in a short period or sending emails too infrequently can lead to deliverability problems. Consistent, measured sending schedules are preferable to avoid being marked as junk.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that emails can be flagged as phishing if they contain suspicious links, request sensitive information, or mimic legitimate company communications. To avoid this, always use secure URLs, clearly identify the sender, and avoid generic greetings.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that poor list hygiene, including sending to outdated or invalid email addresses, significantly increases the likelihood of being caught by spam filters and being classified as junk. Regular list cleaning is essential.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that single-use links in emails are becoming problematic due to filtering, recommending links expire after a reasonable time or direct to a page requiring user interaction, emphasizing the need for interactive actions due to filters running non-interactive JavaScript. Suggesting Microsoft is clamping down harder with new technologies and potentially refining their approach.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that an SCL score of 5+ typically indicates the email is considered spam, leading to placement in the junk folder based on standard O365 policies.

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains that sender reputation is crucial for inbox placement. Factors influencing reputation include IP address history, domain authentication, bounce rates, complaint rates, and engagement metrics. Building and maintaining a positive sender reputation is key to avoiding the junk folder.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests Microsoft may have either fixed an issue causing spam to bypass filters or pushed an internal update with new anti-spam policies.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that Microsoft seems to have deployed a sandboxed browser to open links in emails, allowing for thorough analysis of webpage content, which indicates they’re closely monitoring linked web pages rather than just email content and links.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that high complaint rates (recipients marking emails as spam) directly and negatively impact email deliverability. Monitoring and reducing complaint rates through improved targeting and relevant content are essential.

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) helps prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks. Properly configured DMARC policies ensure that only authorized emails are delivered, protecting sender reputation and improving deliverability.

Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that emails might land in the Junk Email folder due to various reasons, including the sender's email address or domain being on a blocklist, the email content triggering spam filters, or the recipient having previously marked similar emails as junk.

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that using Google Postmaster Tools allows senders to monitor their domain and IP reputation, identify deliverability issues, and troubleshoot problems affecting email delivery to Gmail users.

Documentation from RFC explains that implementing SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records helps verify that emails are sent from authorized servers, preventing spoofing and phishing attacks. It is crucial to have a correctly configured SPF record to tell receiving servers which IP addresses are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.

Documentation from Spamhaus explains that maintaining a good IP and domain reputation is crucial for avoiding junk or phishing classifications. Regularly monitor blacklists, promptly address complaints, and adhere to best practices for email sending to prevent reputation damage.