Summary
Cloudmark trap hits are predominantly caused by poor email list hygiene, flawed acquisition processes, and failing to adhere to email best practices. Specifically, sending emails to addresses harvested by spammers, using old or purchased lists, lacking proper opt-in consent, and failing to regularly clean lists contribute significantly. Trap addresses, including recycled spam traps and honeypots, identify senders not following these best practices. Resolution involves examining acquisition processes, implementing double opt-in, consistently cleaning email lists, validating addresses, and immediately ceasing sending upon a trap hit. Furthermore, understanding the source of the problem through IP address reports and investigating the signup process is crucial. If already blocklisted, contacting Cloudmark for removal after identifying and correcting the issue is necessary. Technical aspects like setting up SPF and DKIM records are also important to ensure deliverability.
Key findings
- Poor List Hygiene: A primary cause is poor email list hygiene, with issues like old lists, purchased lists, and lack of regular cleaning leading to trap hits.
- Flawed Acquisition: Faulty acquisition processes, such as collecting addresses without proper consent or through webform spam, contribute significantly.
- Trap Identification: Trap addresses, including honeypots and recycled traps, identify senders not adhering to email best practices.
- Resolution Steps: Effective resolution involves cleaning lists, implementing double opt-in, and investigating the source of the problem when hits occur.
Key considerations
- Acquisition Scrutiny: Regularly examine and refine email acquisition processes to ensure addresses are obtained with explicit consent and without spam harvesting.
- List Maintenance: Implement strict list maintenance procedures, including regular cleaning and validation, to avoid sending to trap addresses.
- Technical Compliance: Ensure proper technical setup, including SPF and DKIM records, to authenticate emails and prevent deliverability issues.
- Response Protocol: Establish a clear protocol for addressing trap hits, including immediate cessation of sending, source identification, and request for removal from blocklists.
- Engagement Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of engagement metrics like bounce rates, and feedback loops, combined with proactively removing unengaged recipients, is essential for maintaining a healthy email list.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Cloudmark trap hits are primarily caused by poor email list hygiene practices, such as sending to old or purchased lists, failing to obtain proper consent (opt-in), and lacking regular list cleaning. These trap hits are triggered when emails reach addresses created solely to identify spammers. Resolving the issue involves implementing double opt-in processes, regularly cleaning email lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses, validating email addresses, and avoiding the purchase of email lists. If already on a Cloudmark blocklist, it is important to stop sending emails, identify the source of the problem, and contact Cloudmark for removal.
Key opinions
- Root Causes: Cloudmark trap hits are triggered by sending to addresses designed to identify spammers, often due to old, purchased, or unconsented email lists.
- Double Opt-in: Implementing a double opt-in process is crucial for ensuring recipients genuinely subscribe and helps avoid sending to spam traps.
- List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists by removing inactive subscribers and validating email addresses significantly reduces the risk of hitting spam traps.
- Remediation: If already blocklisted, the immediate actions are to stop sending emails, identify the source of the spam trap hits, and request removal from Cloudmark.
Key considerations
- Acquisition Practices: Examine your email acquisition process for potential sources of invalid or unconsented addresses. Check for webform spam and monitor new contact opt-ins closely.
- Engagement Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates and feedback loops to identify problematic addresses and adjust sending practices accordingly.
- Proactive Prevention: Adopt proactive measures like using confirmed opt-in, segmenting your audience, and providing easy unsubscribe options to maintain list health.
- Blocklist Review: If you suspect a Cloudmark issue, investigate the sending practices, determine the cause and promptly request removal by filling out their removal request form.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit suggests regularly cleaning email lists, implementing a double opt-in process to confirm subscriptions, and monitoring bounce rates and feedback loops to identify and remove problematic addresses.
1 Apr 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Web Hosting Talk advises if you are on a Cloudmark Blocklist to determine the cause, check the sending practices, then contact Cloudmark to request removal by filling out their removal request form.
11 Jun 2022 - Web Hosting Talk
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Cloudmark trap hits often stem from flawed acquisition processes where addresses from non-consenting individuals are collected. Identifying the root cause involves scrutinizing IP address reports, the signup process, engagement metrics, and overall list management practices. A significant concern is recycled spam traps—valid email addresses repurposed to catch spammers, indicating poor list hygiene if hit. If no changes were made to the acquisition process, the sudden appearance of numerous spam traps may warrant further investigation for underlying issues, as well as waiting for more information.
Key opinions
- Acquisition Analysis: Trap hits often link back to issues in the email acquisition process, such as collecting addresses without proper consent.
- Recycled Traps: Hitting recycled spam traps indicates a failure in maintaining a clean and up-to-date email list.
- Source Identification: Determining the source of trap hits requires a thorough analysis of IP reports, signup procedures, and list management practices.
- Unexplained Spikes: If acquisition processes remain unchanged, sudden increases in spam traps necessitate a deeper investigation beyond initial assumptions.
Key considerations
- Process Scrutiny: Routinely examine the email acquisition process to ensure addresses are obtained ethically and with explicit consent.
- List Hygiene: Implement stringent list hygiene practices, including regular cleaning and validation to avoid sending to recycled traps.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor engagement metrics to identify and remove inactive subscribers promptly.
- Underlying Issues: Investigate other potential issues that may be the cause if acquisition processes haven't changed.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that recycled spam traps are real email addresses that were once valid but have been abandoned and repurposed as traps. Sending to them indicates that the email sender is not practising correct list hygeine.
2 Jul 2024 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that if there were no changes to acquisition process, then it's unlikely to be the reason for so many spamtraps appearing on the list overnight and to wait to see if more information is revealed about changes.
31 Mar 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Cloudmark trap hits are primarily caused by poor email list hygiene and acquisition practices, indicating that senders are not following best practices. Spam traps, including honeypots, are used to identify and block spammers who harvest email addresses illicitly. Hitting these traps, whether by sending to harvested addresses or failing to maintain a clean list, indicates significant issues in email management. Avoiding spam involves ensuring legitimate opt-in procedures, regularly cleaning email lists, avoiding spam trigger words, setting up valid SPF and DKIM records, maintaining a clean IP address, and providing easy unsubscribe options. Dead email addresses, which are permanently undeliverable, further contribute to deliverability issues and should be removed from lists.
Key findings
- Poor List Hygiene: Trap hits indicate senders aren't following best practices for email list management, leading to delivery to addresses harvested by spammers.
- Honeypot Detection: Honeypots are used to identify and block senders employing automated address harvesting techniques.
- Technical Setup: Proper technical configuration, including SPF and DKIM records, is essential for avoiding spam filters.
- Dead Addresses: Dead email addresses, being permanently undeliverable, negatively impact deliverability and sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Opt-In Practices: Ensure legitimate opt-in procedures are in place to avoid sending to trap addresses.
- List Maintenance: Regularly clean email lists to remove invalid, inactive, and dead email addresses.
- Technical Compliance: Implement and maintain proper SPF and DKIM records to authenticate email sending.
- Content Review: Avoid using spam trigger words in email content to prevent triggering spam filters.
Technical article
Documentation from DigitalOcean explains to prevent emails going to spam, avoid spam trigger words, ensure your domain has valid SPF and DKIM records, maintain a clean IP address, and provide an easy unsubscribe option.
16 Oct 2021 - DigitalOcean
Technical article
Documentation from RFC Editor defines dead email addresses as those which are permanently unable to receive emails due to being syntactically invalid, nonexistent, or administratively prohibited.
2 Oct 2022 - RFC-Editor
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