Summary
The severity of MXToolbox blacklistings varies, with larger lists posing a greater threat. Experts and marketers overwhelmingly agree that using rented email lists is detrimental, equating to spamming and violating ESP policies, leading to spam complaints, reduced engagement, and damage to sender reputation. Proactive measures are vital, including obtaining explicit consent, using double opt-in, regular list cleaning (removing hard bounces, unengaged subscribers, spam traps, and typos), email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and monitoring sender reputation using tools. Successfully transitioning from spamming practices to legitimate sending can improve revenue. Adhering to sending limits, maintaining low spam rates (below 0.10% for Gmail), and investigating and addressing any blacklist listings are crucial for optimal email deliverability.
Key findings
- Blacklist Impact Varies: The seriousness depends on the specific blacklist and the reasons for being listed. Larger lists have a greater impact.
- Rented Lists = Spam = Bad: Using rented email lists is widely considered spam and severely harms email deliverability and reputation.
- Proactive Prevention Is Key: Obtaining explicit consent, using double opt-in, and implementing good list hygiene are essential for preventing deliverability problems.
- List Cleaning Is Crucial: Removing hard bounces, unengaged subscribers, spam traps, and typos are required.
- Monitoring and Tools: Tools are available to help monitor your reputation and identify listings.
Key considerations
- Prioritize Consent: Only send emails to recipients who have explicitly consented to receive them.
- Avoid Rented/Purchased Lists: Focus on building an organic list of engaged subscribers.
- Regular List Maintenance: Implement a consistent process for cleaning your email list.
- Authenticate Your Email: Use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your email and prevent spoofing.
- Monitor Reputation and Deliverability: Use monitoring tools and pay attention to metrics like bounce rates and spam complaints.
- Adhere to Sending Limits: Respect sending limits imposed by email providers.
- Investigate and Remediate: If blacklisted, investigate the cause and take steps to be removed.
- Transition from bad practices: If using bad practices then transition to good practices for better revenue.
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
The consensus among email marketers is that MXToolBox blacklistings vary in severity, but being listed on major blacklists can significantly harm email deliverability. Renting email lists is strongly discouraged due to ESP policy violations, spam complaints, damage to sender reputation, and potential legal issues (GDPR). Proactive measures to avoid blacklists include obtaining explicit consent, using double opt-in, regularly cleaning email lists, and implementing email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Monitoring sender reputation and promptly addressing blacklist listings are crucial for maintaining good email deliverability.
Key opinions
- Blacklist Severity: The impact of blacklistings varies; major lists can cause significant deliverability issues.
- Rented Lists: Renting email lists is harmful due to lack of consent, spam traps, and damage to sender reputation.
- Proactive Prevention: Explicit consent, double opt-in, list cleaning, and email authentication are vital for prevention.
- Monitoring Reputation: Continuous monitoring of sender reputation is essential for early detection of issues.
Key considerations
- ESP Policies: Ensure compliance with your ESP's policies regarding email list acquisition and sending practices.
- List Hygiene: Implement a consistent process for cleaning your email list to remove invalid addresses, spam traps, and unengaged subscribers.
- Legal Compliance: Be aware of and comply with relevant data privacy regulations, such as GDPR.
- Blacklist Remediation: If blacklisted, investigate the cause, follow the removal process, and implement corrective measures.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Constant Contact explains regularly cleaning up your lists, you will see increased deliverability, reduce spam complaints, protect your sender reputation, and improve overall marketing results. Cleaning your list ensures that you're sending messages only to interested and engaged contacts, which helps search engines and inbox providers trust you with their users.
6 May 2022 - Constant Contact
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit explains that renting email lists is a bad idea because the recipients haven't opted in to receive emails from you. This will likely result in low engagement, high bounce rates, spam complaints, and damage to your sender reputation.
14 Dec 2023 - Reddit
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Experts agree that the severity of MXToolbox blacklistings varies, with the underlying cause for being listed being more important than the listing itself. Using rented email lists is considered a harmful practice equivalent to spamming, violating ESP policies, introducing spam traps, and damaging sender reputation. Addressing this requires proactive list hygiene, including checking for invalid addresses, spam traps, unengaged subscribers and fixing problems.
Key opinions
- Blacklist Context: The seriousness of a blacklist depends on the specific list and the reasons for being listed.
- Rented Lists = Spam: Using rented lists is considered spam and negatively impacts deliverability.
- Proactive List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists and addressing acquisition issues is crucial.
Key considerations
- Investigate Listings: Determine the cause of any blacklist listing and take corrective action.
- Avoid Rented Lists: Refrain from using rented email lists and focus on building an organically grown, engaged audience.
- Monitor Acquisition: Implement processes to ensure your email acquisition methods are not contributing to deliverability problems (e.g., bad mailbox bounces).
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks states that using rented lists is spamming and will lead to being blocked. Skyler (SocketLabs) agrees, stating it is unsolicited email and therefore spam.
29 Jan 2025 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that purchased/rented lists violate ESP policies, introduce spam traps, result in low engagement, and are not a sustainable marketing strategy.
26 Apr 2023 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Technical documentation highlights the importance of monitoring blacklists, especially major ones like Spamhaus SBL, and maintaining good sending practices to avoid being listed. Tools like MXToolbox can help identify blacklistings, while Google and Microsoft emphasize keeping spam rates low and adhering to sending limits. Regular list cleaning, including removing hard bounces, unengaged subscribers, spam complaints, and typographical errors, is critical for deliverability.
Key findings
- Blacklist Monitoring: Tools like MXToolbox can identify if your server or domain is blacklisted.
- Spamhaus SBL: Being listed on Spamhaus SBL indicates a serious problem with sending practices.
- Spam Rate Importance: Maintaining a spam rate below 0.10% is crucial for Gmail deliverability.
- Sending Limits: Exceeding sending limits can lead to blacklisting by Microsoft.
- List Cleaning Elements: Regular list cleaning requires removing hard bounces, unengaged subscribers, spam complaints, and typos.
Key considerations
- Utilize Monitoring Tools: Implement tools like MXToolbox to proactively monitor blacklist status.
- Investigate Blacklistings: If listed on Spamhaus SBL or other major blacklists, immediately investigate the cause.
- Optimize Spam Rate: Take steps to minimize your spam rate and stay below the threshold set by Gmail.
- Adhere to Sending Limits: Understand and adhere to sending limits imposed by email providers like Microsoft.
- Implement List Cleaning: Establish a regular list cleaning schedule to remove problematic addresses and improve engagement.
Technical article
Documentation from Spamhaus explains that being listed on their Blocklist (SBL) indicates a serious issue with your email sending practices. They advise investigating the listing reason and taking corrective action to be removed from the list.
9 Jul 2022 - Spamhaus
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost explains that regular list cleaning should involve removing Hard bounces, Unengaged subscribers, Spam complaints and Typographical errors
18 Aug 2022 - SparkPost
