The Privileges of Membership (and Performance)

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: …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary Commentary View Comments

A New Year and…Spam Still Growing

As we gear up for the New Year, it is also a good time to review the highs and lows of the past. By learning what happened in email (cut) and what changed in 2009, we have the opportunity to properly prepare for what is ahead. Last week we released a report on the 10 Top Email Trends of 2009, the complete report is available for download here.

One of the primary things we highlighted about 2009 and expect to see more of in 2010, is the continued growth of spam. Throughout 2009, we saw a flurry of articles publishing metrics on spam volumes rising and the increase of spam as a percentage of all email.

Spammers continue to have access to sophisticated tools to help them send more spam. Let’s face it, reports indicate there is a ton of money to be made from being a spammer so they won’t to just go away.

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

2009 European Anti-Spam Report Released

Enisa (European Network and Information Security Agency) just released their third survey on anti-spam measures implemented by European providers. They interviewed 90 EMEA xSPs (Internet Service Providers, Telcos, Hosting companies, etc) in 30 European countries to compile the results.

The survey is a comprehensive look at spam issues affecting Europe and highlights how spam is truly a global problem. European mailbox providers echo concerns raised in the United States and globally.

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Tucows Feedback Loop Has Launched

I am very pleased to announce the public launch of the Tucows feedback loop. Return Path clients have had the benefit of participating in a private beta of the Return Path feedback loop since August 20. It is now available for the rest of the email universe at: http://fbl.hostedemail.com

Tucows is the third-largest wholesale domain registrar, providing Internet services, through its wholesale division known as OpenSRS, for more than 8 million domains. Tucows hosts millions of email inboxes on its OpenSRS Email Service. This feedback loop will cover all of those inboxes.

This follows in a long line of Return Path sponsored feedback loops including …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

AOL Cancels Report Cards

Yesterday the AOL postmaster site announced that they will no longer be sending report cards to people on the AOL feedback loop when their complaint rate crosses a certain threshold (.30%).

We’ve always recommended our clients keep a close eye on their feedback loop data as one way to maximize their deliverability. When complaint rates spike, it’s time to take a deeper look at your messaging campaign and any recent changes that may have negatively impacted complaint rates — policy and practices changes are ultimately the key to …

Tell me more

Categories: News View Comments

Yahoo!, Email Stamps and Whitelists

Several online sources have commented on a paper recently published by a research group at Yahoo! on voluntary email “stamps,” which has generated a lot of speculation. Our contacts at Yahoo! tell us this idea is purely in the research realm, and is not scheduled for development in Yahoo! Mail. In other words: it isn’t even vaporware and isn’t likely to be a part of the Yahoo! mail system anytime soon. (It is also worth noting that Yahoo! did not intend to publicize anything about this research, because it is in such an early stage.)

Of course as readers of this blog know, Yahoo! continues to use the Return Path Certified whitelist as a factor in …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Social Networking and Email

Social networks have exploded on the scene and continue to grow rapidly. However, their reputation in the industry has been mixed. Often, in their viral marketing efforts to reach more users, some social networks have crossed the line by participating in shady permission practices: spamming users’ address books and encouraging their users to invite friends of friends of friends to join.

Now, several large social networks are rumored to soon be providing email service. It will be interesting to see …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary News View Comments

Providing the Incentive to Do the Right Thing

With Yahoo!’s recent adoption of Sender Score Certified, the names that rely on Sender Score Certified now read like a who’s who of the email receiving universe – top ISP’s like Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Cox; top filtering solutions like Spam Assassin and Cloudmark; plus thousands of top universities and Fortune 500 companies.

The Sender Score Certified program is a network of trust based on email reputation. Exemplary emailers agree to follow best practices and uphold the highest standards for email behavior. They submit themselves to a rigorous inspection of their sending practices. In return, major email receivers agree to look favorably upon emails sent by those senders.

This program provides the incentive for both sides of the email universe to do the right thing …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Yahoo! Feedback Loop News

I am extremely excited to be able to announce the launch a new Yahoo! feedback loop powered by Return Path. We now provide feedback loop services for more than 60% of the of the largest internet service providers (ISPs), including Comcast, Cox, USA.net, and Mailtrust.

And, the launch of the Yahoo! feedback loop paves the way for full integration of Yahoo! onto Sender Score Certified …

Tell me more

Categories: News View Comments

Fighting Spam in the New Economy

Happy New Year! Every January I take some time to reflect on recent industry trends and make some predictions and goals for the coming year. Needless to say, 2008 economic events have made a strong impact all around the globe. The anti-spam community, like many others, is bracing and already seeing the impact.

When times are tough, more people turn to crime. In the email business, this means spam and spam efforts will continue to increase. This includes pure evil spammers, who will redouble-efforts to get their annoying spam-messages in your inbox as well as semi-legitimate marketers, feeling the pinch of the economy, who will be tempted to be overly aggressive with their marketing campaigns and whose emails will cross the line from welcomed to unwelcomed and/or “spam”. The folks who are caught in the crosshairs of this issue are the ISPs and the email administrators – trying to sort through this increasing tide of junk mail while also being asked to make budget cuts.

That’s why I’m calling 2009 “The Year of Collaboration” among the ISP community. …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments