It's Not Rock and Roll, But We Like It: The Return Path Podcast

We are pleased and proud to announce the launch of Reputation Radio, the Return Path podcast. It's a whole new way to experience the expertise and thought leadership you've come to expect from Return Path. We'll be podcasting every two weeks.

In this week's episode you'll hear George Bilbrey and Robert Barclay discussing our Reputation Benchmark Report and Bonnie Malone sharing a cool email idea from eBay. Future episodes will feature our experts talking about spam traps, mobile marketing, international email trends and much, much more. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single episode.

Here's three fun, creative ways to enjoy Reputation Radio: ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Reputation Is No Longer Black and White

Comcast recently announced they are using Sender Score as a factor in determining if you are eligible to participate in their feedback loop program.

Basically, if you pass their threshold for "good" (Sender Score above 60), you're in. If you appear below their threshold for "bad" (Sender Score below 30), you're out. And if you are in-between (Sender Score between 30 and 60), they'll factor in additional elements to determine your eligibility.

Reputation has evolved quite a bit in the receiver world. Not too long ago, the first reputation systems only gave binary answers. Most classified senders as bad (meaning they'd be blocked), or not bad (and thus not blocked) according to their own criteria. Others followed the model of ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Is Your Email an Invited Guest or a Drunken Frat-boy?

By Neil Schwartzman
Director of Standards and Security, Sender Score Certified Compliance

I have been thinking about the analogy between the email inbox and the postal mailbox we all have. It doesn't work.

It is true that the inbox is a replacement for where we receive news about friends, since handwritten letters seem to have been all but replaced by email (and to a lesser degree, instant messages, and text messaging).

But the inbox isn't your mailbox, it is your living room, a far more intimate and personal space. It is where your friends can drop by unannounced, and invited guests are welcome.

Now, when an invited guest comes into my home ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

The Root of All Email

By J.D. Falk
Director of Product Management, Receiver Products

This week, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) published a number of what they call "RFCs," which originally meant "Requests for Comment" -- the standards documents which specify the technical underpinnings of the internet. Two of these, numbered 5321 and 5322, replace earlier documents defining the very core of internet email. On the surface, each of these seem surprisingly simple; one aims "...to transfer mail reliably and efficiently," while the other defines itself as "...a definition of what message content format is to be passed between systems." Yet without general industry-wide acceptance of (and compliance with) these standards, internet email simply would not exist.

This week also marks ten years since the death of Jon Postel, who arguably had more influence over the creation of the internet than any other single person. One of Jon's most enduring recommendations is ...Tell me more

Categories: Email Deliverability

Before You Get Famous Protect Your Email Account

By Neil Schwartzman
Director of Standards and Security, Sender Score Certified Compliance

By now, you have likely heard about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin having joined the redoubtable ranks of famous people like Paris Hilton and Chester Charlie Bennington (the lead singer of Linkin Park) whose email accounts have been hacked.

Like the Alaskan tundra, the Internet can be a scary, cold, dangerous place. But if the proper precautions are taken, risk of obvious dangers can be reduced significantly. So, whether you've been thrust into the spotlight recently or not, we'd like to nominate the following precautions and hope they get your vote ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Why The Rules Have to Be Flexible

By Matt Blumberg
CEO & Chairman

We have clients ask us all the time - how much email should I be sending out to my subscribers? One a week? One a month? And usually, we give the same advice - it depends on what you are sending, and on what expectation you set with your subscribers when they sign up.

This week is a great example that proves the rule "it depends." I get the Wall Street Journal's email alerts of major headlines. I think I've subscribed in two different categories, maybe three - I can't remember, since I signed up about 10 years ago. In a typical week, across all the categories, I might get ...Tell me more

Categories: Email Deliverability

Asia Diary Day 3: Reviewing Spam Laws in Shanghai

During our APAC tour (previously written about here and here), we became more aware of interesting local laws attempting to legislate against spam. Please don't interpret this as an official legal position (we aren't lawyers, international or otherwise), but check out these policies:

Singapore: Marketers must mark their messages with the letters "ADV" for advertisement to make it easier for a consumer to direct unwanted mail to the electronic trash bin. Singapore supports "opt-out" mailing - a generally lower bar than requiring "opt-in." If a consumer opts not to receive ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Join us for IN: The Email Reputation Conference

By Anita Absey
SVP, Sales & Marketing

By now every marketer understands that email that doesn't make it to the inbox doesn't generate response. And most marketers also understand that the key to getting to the inbox is having a stellar sender reputation.

If it's that simple why does so much opt-in, commercial email still not get into the inboxes of the customers who requested it?

Because while sender reputation is a simple concept ...

Categories: Email Deliverability

Why it doesn't matter that the Virginia anti-spam law was struck down

By J.D. Falk
Director of Product Management, Receiver Products

If the headlines are to be believed, spam is now entirely legal in Virginia and anyone can send whatever they want without any fear of reprisal, ever. Looking beyond the headlines, it appears that the Virginia Supreme Court's ruling in AOL's case against formerly convicted spammer Jeremy Jaynes declares that the Virginia anti-spam law violates the Constitutional protection of anonymous speech, and thus is null and void.

So, are legitimate companies now permitted to send spam? Do the criminals get to run loose in the streets, advertising their wares openly? Are we about to suffer an increase in spam that makes 2007 look like 1977?

Of course not. ...Tell me more

Categories: Email Deliverability

Asia Diary Day 2: Meeting Receivers in Beijing

Last week I wrote about a deliverability seminar in Singapore with some of APAC's top senders. During our Asia tour we also had a roundtable session with many of the top ISPS in China and Yahoo & Microsoft. The spirit of the session was a chance to improve communication and collaboration in the ISP community.

This is a brief summary of some of the comments expressed by these members of the Chinese ISP community:

• They have general problems with communication outside the region. Most of their interest is finding contacts and opening channels of communication to resolve network block issues. They want to know internal blacklist criteria and urge transparency. ...Tell me more

  Categories: Email Deliverability