Resending email confirmations to unconfirmed addresses presents numerous risks to email deliverability, sender reputation, and legal compliance. Experts and documentation sources agree that this practice can lead to increased spam complaints, higher bounce rates, blacklisting, and violations of privacy regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM. Damaged sender reputation, negatively impacted IP reputation, and reduced engagement are also significant concerns. Maintaining good list hygiene, obtaining explicit consent, and monitoring engagement metrics are crucial for avoiding these pitfalls.
9 marketer opinions
Resending confirmation emails to unconfirmed addresses poses significant risks to email deliverability and sender reputation. This practice can lead to increased spam complaints, higher bounce rates, and potential blacklisting. Additionally, it may violate privacy regulations such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM, and is considered a poor email marketing practice that negatively impacts engagement and wastes resources.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailchimp states that sending to unconfirmed email addresses violates their terms of service and industry best practices for consent-based marketing. They emphasize the importance of verifiable permission before sending any marketing emails.
25 Mar 2023 - Mailchimp
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that sending to unconfirmed addresses can severely damage your sender reputation. ISPs use engagement metrics to assess sender quality. Low engagement from unconfirmed addresses (e.g., opens, clicks) signals low quality, leading to placement in spam folders.
17 Feb 2024 - Email on Acid
4 expert opinions
Resending email confirmations to unconfirmed addresses poses risks to email deliverability and sender reputation. Experts highlight the possibility of sending emails to the wrong person, the potential for being flagged as spam, and the importance of good list hygiene. They advise weighing the risks of reputation damage and poor delivery against the potential return, and emphasize the importance of cleaning email lists to remove unengaged users, which improves deliverability.
Expert view
Expert from SpamResource explains that repeatedly sending to unconfirmed addresses significantly increases the likelihood of being flagged as spam. ISPs and mailbox providers closely monitor engagement metrics, and low engagement from these recipients signals potential spam activity.
14 Jul 2022 - SpamResource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that an unconfirmed email may not belong to the intended person and that sending mail to people who haven't confirmed and aren't using the service isn't a good idea if it won't bring in much revenue. Also advises to consider the risks of reputation loss and poor delivery against the expected return.
3 Oct 2023 - Email Geeks
4 technical articles
Sending emails to unconfirmed addresses carries significant risks, as highlighted by several documentation sources. These risks include violating established email standards, leading to increased spam complaint rates (particularly affecting Gmail deliverability), damaging IP reputation (impacting deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail users), and ultimately leading to deliverability issues such as emails landing in spam folders or being blocked by ISPs.
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost outlines that the practice of sending to unconfirmed email addresses negatively impacts sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. These issues can manifest as emails landing in spam folders or being blocked completely by ISPs.
19 Apr 2022 - SparkPost
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that sending emails to unconfirmed recipients impacts IP reputation. Microsoft's Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) tracks sending behavior. Sending to inactive or invalid addresses contributes to negative IP reputation scores, affecting deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail users.
24 Mar 2023 - Microsoft SNDS
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