Searching for Truth in DKIM: Part 2 of 5

In part 1, we explained that the DKIM “d=” value identifies the domain name which signed the message, which may be a different domain name from the author of the message.

Tying the signing and author domains together requires an additional standard: Author Domain Signing Practices (ADSP). In IETF parlance, the “author domain” is the domain name in the From: header, so ADSP is a way for the author domain to publish a statement specifying whether any other domain name should ever sign a message purporting to be From: that author domain….

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Searching for Truth in DKIM: Part 1 of 5

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is the leading email authentication technology, supported by major ISPs including Google, AOL, and Yahoo! (who invented its predecessor), popular mail server software like Sendmail, and many of the best minds in email technology. But if you peruse the archives of the IETF DKIM mailing list, or start up a conversation at MAAWG, it might appear that there’s still a lot of disagreement about what a DKIM signature actually means.

Often, anyone attempting to describe authentication turns to analogies: a driver’s license, or a license plate on a car, or a passport — all saying that you are who you say you are, but not (by themselves) proving that you’re trustworthy. The trust measurement is external to DKIM: a reputation score, or third-party certification status.

But what, exactly, is being trusted? What’s being measured? …

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JupiterResearch: Marketers Focus on the Wrong Stuff?

As many readers of this blog will no doubt already know, the JupiterResearch report on ESPs that was released this month found that 70% of marketers rank “deliverability” as their number one priority when selecting an email service provider. While we applaud marketer’s attention to deliverability issues, it seems to us that their focus has been placed slightly in the wrong direction. As I’ve written before, ESPs cannot solve all deliverability problems for email marketers. Moreover, there is very little difference between the major players on the pieces that the ESP can control. Basically, you can stop worrying about whether or not your ESP can get the email through. They do a good job.

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Worried About Deliverability? Focus on Relevance

Whenever I sit down to write about relevance, I find myself thinking “Is this a new idea? Don’t marketers already know this? They must get the basics by now, right?”

Unfortunately, the answer appears to be a resounding “No!” Last week JupiterResearch released its 2008 Email Marketer’s Buyers Guide and, as Direct Magazine columnist Ken Magill points out, the news isn’t very good. The top criteria marketers use when choosing an ESP are deliverability and price. That is good news – as deliverability is the single most contributing factor to earning higher revenue. And keeping costs down also helps the bottom line.

However, as the report itself points out, looking to your ESP to solve your deliverability is completely misplaced.

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Why Does Return Path Spend So Much Time Working Within Industry Organizations?

That answer is simple. Because we love email and are committed to preserving and enriching the email ecosystem for everyone who uses it (except the bad guys.) There is a lot of coordination required if senders, receivers, and end users are to withstand the assault on email by the “axis of evil” – spammers, phishers, and other fraudsters that are polluting our email ecosystem. As champions of the email space, we have dedicated a lot of time and energy into supporting the online community and committing resources to making email work for everyone.

Return Path is proud to serve in the following capacities:

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What Do You Really Know About Your Inbox Deliverability?

I had the pleasure of attending Marketing Sherpa’s Email Summit this week where I had the unique opportunity to network and gain valuable insight from savvy email marketers who openly shared their experiences, talked about their obstacles and raved about their successes. I am sure most of you read Marketing’ Sherpa’s summary report of their recent email summit. While I agree with most of the commentary, I was a little taken aback by the notion that deliverability is no longer a big topic and subsequently, not a big issue.

I am certainly not saying that relevancy is not important, or is search, or segmentation, social media, etc. I guess the word I would use is “relative,” not “relevance.” My point is, when you send an email message, your expectation is that it will be delivered to the intended recipient with the messaging you created. Much like print, television, word of mouth and radio, email is a prime communication channel that, for direct marketers, is intended to drive a response. If the message is not delivered, then the effort is futile.

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Authentication, Reputation & Accreditation: The Three Pillars of Email Deliverability

Here at Return Path, we’re constantly thinking & talking about reputation, authentication, and accreditation as the best way to achieve maximum deliverability. These three elements work in tandem to help ISPs better identify and ascertain whether the mail you send should reach the inbox of their subscribers.

With spam, phishing and spoofing proliferating the internet airwaves, delivery rates for legitimate marketers have been compromised. As a result, marketers must take extra steps to ensure the success of their email programs by differentiating themselves from the fraudsters and spammers. To do so, they should integrate these three methods into their overall email strategy to achieve campaign success.

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AOL Changes Authentication and Whitelist Standards

We’ve recently learned some news from AOL about changes to how they authenticate inbound mail as well as changes to their whitelist program. We’ll know more after a question and answer session with AOL this afternoon (hosted by the ESPC) but here’s what we know now.

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A Belated 2007 Year in Review with a Look Ahead to 2008

We waited a little while to make sure that 2007 was really and truly over before noting the interesting trends for the year. With a fair degree of certainty we can predict that 2007 won’t return. After polling some of the smarter folks about deliverability at Return Path, here are some of the trends that we found interesting over the last year and what we think will happen in ’08.

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