Will whitelisting of tagged Reply-To address also whitelist the untagged From address?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that tagged or 'plus' addresses are treated as unique addresses. Therefore, whitelisting a tagged Reply-To address (e.g., user+campaign1@example.com) will not automatically whitelist the untagged From address (e.g., user@example.com). Each address is treated independently by most systems.
Email marketer from Reddit mentions that address book handling varies. Some systems may treat plus addresses as separate contacts, while others might group them. Whitelisting behavior follows this pattern; there's no universal rule.
Email marketer from Marketo Community details best practices for using plus addresses in marketing campaigns. He also mentions that not all email marketing tools have the ability to use plus addresses, so whitelisting them may not even work depending on which marketing platform you are using.
Email marketer from Mailjet states that While plus addressing can be helpful for organization and tracking, it’s important to remember that not all email clients or servers treat plus addresses the same way. Ensure your email marketing practices account for this, and understand that whitelisting a plus address does not automatically whitelist the base address.
Email marketer from EmailDrip Help Center explains that using plus addressing (e.g., email+tag@yourdomain.com) is generally safe for email deliverability. However, some older systems might not recognize it, and whitelisting one doesn't guarantee the other is whitelisted.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that in their experience, whitelisting a 'plus' address doesn't guarantee the root address is also whitelisted. They suggest testing with major providers to confirm behavior, as it can vary.
Email marketer from EmailGeeks Community says that he always tests new campaigns with plus addressed emails, and that helps to determine if the From email address is also being picked up as safe to send to. Its always best to test across multiple email platforms like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! etc.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum advises that plus addresses are useful for tracking but warns against relying on whitelisting to transfer between tagged and untagged addresses. He recommends explicitly safelisting both.
Email marketer from Email Deliverability Blog explains that some ISPs might treat plus addresses as lower reputation, due to their common use for spam traps and disposable emails. Whitelisting might not overcome this inherent bias.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that plus addressing is acceptable, but that some brands use it for their own internal purposes. Some companies automatically strip them. This should be reviewed and taken into account when sending emails, particularly from replies and the affect it has on the 'From' email address. This has an affect on the question of whitelisting.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that they don’t believe the whitelisting will cross between the tagged and untagged addresses, as they’re just unrelated addresses in the same domain.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that Apple mail uses a “previous recipients” list, which is based on addresses the user has sent mail to. Microsoft used to have an “add to address book” feature on reply, which also added the address the user was sending to. Laura expects that most systems will add the specific reply-to address. She also suggests that things like Google may be more complicated and not a simple “add recipient to address book” process.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google states that Gmail inherently supports plus addressing, allowing users to create variations of their email address by adding '+anything' before the '@' symbol. However, Google's documentation doesn't explicitly state whether whitelisting a plus address automatically extends to the base address, implying they are treated separately.
Documentation from Microsoft explains how to add addresses to safe sender list in Outlook. It provides options for domain or specific addresses. It does not specify any special handling of plus addresses - suggesting that they are treated as distinct entries.
Documentation from IETF explains that RFC 5322 defines the standard for email message format. It technically allows for '+' characters in the local part of an email address. However, it doesn't specify any special handling or relationship between addresses with and without the '+' extension. This means systems are free to treat them as distinct.
Documentation from Apple clarifies how mail privacy works with the mail app. It states that it hides IP Address and loads all remote content in the background, however, it does not cover how it affects plus addresses and how they are treated. It suggests that each email is independent and not related in anyway.