Fake DNSBL Nszones.com Uncovered by Spamhaus

Neil Schwartzman
Senior Director, Security Strategy, Receiver Services

Fake DNSBL operators nszones.com were today named on The Spamhaus Project website.

Nszones.com apparently lists IPs found in other DNSBLs, and charges five euros for delisting.

Senders and receivers should beware this enterprise; like scareware, those websites and popups that randomly inform you your computer is infected with a virus, and they can sell you the solution, NSZones gives legitimate DNSBL operators a bad name by publishing fake data, and charging you to get delisted.

DNSBL listings can be tricky ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

New MAAWG Consumer Survey: Half of Global Email Users Willingly Click on Spam

By Stephanie Miller, VP, Global Market Development
and
Neil Schwartzman
Senior Director, Security Strategy, Receiver Services

Have you ever wondered who in the world clicks on a spam email? Someone must be clicking, the thinking goes, or else spammers would have no economic incentive to keep blasting.

Turns out that we have seen the clickers, and they are us. Well, maybe not readers of this blog or employees of Return Path, but they are people like the consumers and business professionals on our marketing files and subscribed to our online services.

Nearly half (43%) of email users in North America and Western Europe say they have knowingly opened or accessed spam - including ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Changes to Return Path Certification Standards

By Tom Bartel
VP Receiver and Certification Services

This week we are announcing an upgrade to the standards of the Return Path Certification program. We will no longer certify mail streams which are strictly comprised of "third-party marketing" email (e.g., email-based advertising that is not accompanied by content and is sent on behalf of a different company than the one to which the end user subscribed in the first place).

This upgrade in standards comes after listening to ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

The Privileges of Membership (and Performance)

By Alex Rubin
Vice President of Business Development

Yahoo! Mail has been using the Return Path Certification whitelist as part of its filtering process for more than a year. So we're thrilled that our partners at Yahoo! Mail will begin automatically turning on images and links for our authenticated whitelist program members. Even better, this includes not only Yahoo! Mail webmail but also email hosted by Yahoo!, including BT Internet, Rogers, Bellsouth, SBC, and Rocketmail.

This is great news for the email universe for a couple of reasons: ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Same Spam, Different Day

Neil Schwartzman
Senior Director, Security Strategy, Receiver Services

McAfee just released their March 2010 spam report.

The good news: as a percentage of email, spam has remained flat.

The very bad news: Overall email volume is way up so the amount of spam has gone way up too. Translation: there is a lot more crap clogging up the system.

For large inbox providers a move toward systems that ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Strategies for Increasing Email Deliverability

By: Brian Westnedge
Regional Director, Channels

Next Wednesday, March 17, 2010 our own resident email education expert, Stephanie Miller, will be participating in a webinar with one of our valued ESP partners, WhatCounts. This important webinar will address five specific factors helping email marketers today dramatically increase deliverability and results from their email campaigns. As inboxes become flooded and the email marketing environment changes, it is always important for marketers to stay up to date on trends and modify strategies. If you are interested in attending this webinar, sign up today.

Categories: News

Ready to join the good guys at the center of the email universe? We're Hiring!

By Angela Baldonero
SVP, People

The email universe is vast and complicated and populated by a diverse group of stakeholders, some good and some bad. The bad guys are of course the spammers and other illegitimate senders who seek to defraud consumers with phishing, spoofing and other scams. Luckily there are a lot of good guys fighting back to protect email for everyone.

THE MISSION
Why is this so important? Email continues to be the most popular and widely used Internet technology by all age groups and any other demographic you can think of. Email is an essential communication tool for all businesses no matter the industry or product. And despite the advent of new technologies that predict the death of email, email will never die. In fact, it's the fuel that drives these new technologies. Did you know that email is engine that powers the world of social media and soon Google Wave? So keeping all aspects of the email universe running smoothly is a critically important task - and Return Path is proud to be at the center of it.

THE ASSIGNMENT
We're incredibly busy working on both sides of inbox by providing large-volume senders with the reputation services they need to achieve high inbox placement. Plus, we offer ISPs and other large receivers access to the data and tools they need to make faster, more accurate filtering decisions. As we work to improve and perfect our current product suite, we'll be introducing new products and services to make email even more powerful - and valuable. It's a lot of work providing senders and receivers with the best technology, data and services in the email universe so we're hiring!

ARE YOU READY?
Have you been working in the email industry for a while? For an ESP or an ISP or a marketer? Are you passionate about keeping the channel safe for consumers and legitimate businesses? Do you want to work with people who are just as passionate about email? Would you like to work for a company that was recently named one of the best places to work? If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions, we'd love to talk to you. Check out our careers page to learn more about open positions.

Categories: News

Google Wave to Add Email Notifications

By Jeremy Goldsmith
Software Engineering Manager

Several months ago, Google released Google Wave, which was described as the next big thing in online communication. An online collaboration tool, it was heralded by techno-pundits as a replacement for email, instant messaging and social networking. Even Google hinted that the current mix of technologies that people use for online communication (email, instant messaging and social networking) is outdated and ready for a new paradigm. ...

Categories: News

Cool Email Idea: Options on Opt-Out

Opt outs are always a bummer, but they are a part of email life. People have changing interests, jobs and lifestyles and your email may not longer be relevant to them. Better to have them move on than...

Categories: Response

New Blog of Note in the Direct Marketing World

By Matt Blumberg
CEO & Chairman

Gene Raitt, Chairman of the DMA, has launched a new blog today called DM Unplugged. It's not an official DMA property. Gene won't be the only contributor -- over time, other DMA board members (including me) and thought leaders in the direct and interactive marketing communities at large -- will contribute as well.

This is one small, though notable, development in a series of things the DMA is working on as it transforms itself. Look for some truly "unplugged" commentary on this blog about both things happening in the industry and transparent views into things happening at the DMA as well as invitations to contribute to the discussion on both.

Categories: News