Amazon Starting Email Service
According to multiple sources, Amazon is starting up a cloud-hosted email service. Called WorkMail, it looks as though it'll be price competitive to similar offerings from Microsoft and Google. Looking into my crystal ball, I assume they'll get some adoption in 2015. What does this mean to you, dear sender? Get ready, because eventually you'll have a new platform to send to, with a potentially new set of spam and reputation filters to contend with. Let's stay tuned and see if this takes off, shall we?
Microsoft Updates Use of List Unsubscribe Header
What is a list-unsusbcribe header, you might ask? It's an email header, typically hidden from the end user, that includes information that allows the MUA (mail user agent; meaning your email client, email reader, or webmail platform) to submit an unsubscribe request on your behalf. This is typically linked up to an "unsubscribe" button in a webmail provider's user interface. If you see an "unsubscribe" button or link in the Gmail or Outlook.com user interface for a given email message, that message likely contains a list-unsubscribe header.
The header itself is defined in RFC 2369 from 1998. It's very common for email service providers and list management tools to provide support for this header; and if you're building any sort of new tool or list mail sending service, I would recommend including it. Doing so makes it just as easy for a subscriber to click "unsubscribe" as it does for them to click "report spam." Making it easier to unsubscribe means you're likely to garner fewer spam complaints, and thus your deliverability and sending reputation will be at least slightly higher than they would have been without this functionality.
There are two methods of specifying how to unsubscribe a subscriber using the list-unsubscribe header. There's the HTTP method, and the MAILTO method. The HTTP method implies that when it is time to request unsubscribing of that particular user, a particular web page will be visited. The URL would typically include all of the parameters necessary to denote which subscriber, for which sender, is requesting to be unsubscribed. The MAILTO method implies that when it is time to request unsubscribing of that particular user, an email message will be generated to the email address specified in the list-unsubscribe header. (The destination email address typically would include all of the parameters necessary to denote which subscriber, for which sender, is requesting to be unsubscribed.)
A few days ago, Melinda Plemel of Return Path clarified that Microsoft is now only utilizing the MAILTO method and that they are not supporting the HTTP method at this time. (It is implied that Microsoft properties previously supported both the MAILTO method and the HTTP method, but I don't have a lot of experience with the HTTP method myself and I was not able to confirm this.)
TL;DR? Implement a list-unsubscribe header, or make sure your email platform provides one. If you're building it yourself, only implement the MAILTO-based functionality, as it is the most broadly supported. (I'm aware of multiple ISPs supporting the MAILTO method, but I am not aware of any others that are or were supporting the HTTP method, other than Microsoft.)
The header itself is defined in RFC 2369 from 1998. It's very common for email service providers and list management tools to provide support for this header; and if you're building any sort of new tool or list mail sending service, I would recommend including it. Doing so makes it just as easy for a subscriber to click "unsubscribe" as it does for them to click "report spam." Making it easier to unsubscribe means you're likely to garner fewer spam complaints, and thus your deliverability and sending reputation will be at least slightly higher than they would have been without this functionality.
There are two methods of specifying how to unsubscribe a subscriber using the list-unsubscribe header. There's the HTTP method, and the MAILTO method. The HTTP method implies that when it is time to request unsubscribing of that particular user, a particular web page will be visited. The URL would typically include all of the parameters necessary to denote which subscriber, for which sender, is requesting to be unsubscribed. The MAILTO method implies that when it is time to request unsubscribing of that particular user, an email message will be generated to the email address specified in the list-unsubscribe header. (The destination email address typically would include all of the parameters necessary to denote which subscriber, for which sender, is requesting to be unsubscribed.)
A few days ago, Melinda Plemel of Return Path clarified that Microsoft is now only utilizing the MAILTO method and that they are not supporting the HTTP method at this time. (It is implied that Microsoft properties previously supported both the MAILTO method and the HTTP method, but I don't have a lot of experience with the HTTP method myself and I was not able to confirm this.)
TL;DR? Implement a list-unsubscribe header, or make sure your email platform provides one. If you're building it yourself, only implement the MAILTO-based functionality, as it is the most broadly supported. (I'm aware of multiple ISPs supporting the MAILTO method, but I am not aware of any others that are or were supporting the HTTP method, other than Microsoft.)
Topics:
list-unsubscribe,
microsoft,
return path
Ask Al: Help! AHBL is blocking inbound mail!
Mickey writes, "I'm being blocked by AHBL. I own a tax and accounting firm. We send out two newsletters per year to our existing clients using an ESP. We give our clients every opportunity to be removed from the list if they so choose. We do not and have not spammed ever. How did I get blocked by AHBL? No one is able to send me email. Please help. If I did something wrong let me know what. I have no clue and I need my emails working again."
Mickey, if nobody can send email TO you, that strongly suggests that something is up with YOUR mail server. When I tried to send you email at your domain, the message bounced back to me with this error message: "550 5.7.1 74.125.82.46 has been blocked by AHBL."
What this means: Your mail server, or your ISP's spam filtering system, is configured to use the spam filtering blacklist called AHBL. Unfortunately, that blacklist announced that they were shutting down, way back in April 2014. At the end of 2014, the publisher of AHBL moved the blacklist to a sort of "wildcard mode," meaning that anybody who was previously using the AHBL blacklist as a spam filter is now blocking all mail.
That means you -- your mail server, set up by you, your IT consultant, or your ISP, have to go into your mail server's configuration settings and remove any references to AHBL. Once that is done, you will be able to receive mail again.
All mail server administrators should remember to check their mail server spam filter settings periodically. When's the last time you checked to see which blacklists you are using? Are you sure all of those blacklists are still active and publishing? There's a section over on my DNSBL.com blacklist information website all about dead DNSBLS -- make sure you're not using any blacklist shown there, or you could run into troubles like this.
Mickey, if nobody can send email TO you, that strongly suggests that something is up with YOUR mail server. When I tried to send you email at your domain, the message bounced back to me with this error message: "550 5.7.1 74.125.82.46 has been blocked by AHBL."
What this means: Your mail server, or your ISP's spam filtering system, is configured to use the spam filtering blacklist called AHBL. Unfortunately, that blacklist announced that they were shutting down, way back in April 2014. At the end of 2014, the publisher of AHBL moved the blacklist to a sort of "wildcard mode," meaning that anybody who was previously using the AHBL blacklist as a spam filter is now blocking all mail.
That means you -- your mail server, set up by you, your IT consultant, or your ISP, have to go into your mail server's configuration settings and remove any references to AHBL. Once that is done, you will be able to receive mail again.
All mail server administrators should remember to check their mail server spam filter settings periodically. When's the last time you checked to see which blacklists you are using? Are you sure all of those blacklists are still active and publishing? There's a section over on my DNSBL.com blacklist information website all about dead DNSBLS -- make sure you're not using any blacklist shown there, or you could run into troubles like this.
Yahoo Shuts Down Its Email Service In China
As reported on TechCrunch and elsewhere, Yahoo's Chinese email service is no more. Warned all the way back in April, current users of the Chinese version of Yahoo! Mail were given the opportunity to transition their accounts to Alibaba's email service, Alimail.
As of January 1st, any attempt to mail a user at the yahoo.com.cn or yahoo.cn domains is rejected with a "550 relaying denied" error message.
If you run an email service that maintains a filter of dead ISPs or dead domains, I recommend adding yahoo.com.cn and yahoo.cn to your "dead domains" list or similar. There's no point allowing mail to be sent to those domains, as no mail will be successfully delivered.
There is nothing to indicate that users will automatically have the same username at Alimail that they had in Yahoo! Mail, so it likely is not safe for senders to just try to automatically update addresses in their email lists.
As of January 1st, any attempt to mail a user at the yahoo.com.cn or yahoo.cn domains is rejected with a "550 relaying denied" error message.
If you run an email service that maintains a filter of dead ISPs or dead domains, I recommend adding yahoo.com.cn and yahoo.cn to your "dead domains" list or similar. There's no point allowing mail to be sent to those domains, as no mail will be successfully delivered.
There is nothing to indicate that users will automatically have the same username at Alimail that they had in Yahoo! Mail, so it likely is not safe for senders to just try to automatically update addresses in their email lists.
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