Summary
Companies guaranteeing email inbox placement are problematic due to their reliance on unethical practices, manipulation of engagement, and misunderstanding of email filtering mechanisms. They often employ black-hat tactics like purchasing email lists and using click farms, which damages sender reputation, violates anti-spam laws, and can lead to blacklisting. These services often bypass permission-based sending, neglect proper list hygiene, and ignore critical engagement metrics. They also misrepresent their abilities and use misleading marketing to attract clients. Email service providers actively combat these practices, and legitimate deliverability efforts focus on building trust with subscribers and maintaining ethical practices for long-term success.
Key findings
- Unethical Practices: Guaranteed inbox placement services often use unethical or black-hat practices, like purchasing email lists and using click farms.
- Manipulation of Engagement: These services often rely on fake engagement, such as bots or paid users clicking links, which can be detected and penalized.
- Damaged Sender Reputation: These practices damage sender reputation and can lead to blacklisting, harming long-term deliverability.
- Misunderstanding of ESP Algorithms: Guarantees are often based on a misunderstanding of how email filtering works and fail to account for complex ESP algorithms.
- Neglected List Hygiene: These services often neglect proper bounce handling and list hygiene, leading to high bounce rates and further damaging sender reputation.
- Bypassing Best Practices: They bypass best practices such as permission-based sending, leading to spam complaints.
- Increased spam complaint rates: These practices often inflate spam complaint rates leading to filtering issues
- AI and Deceptive Marketing: Companies selling deliverability use AI and deceptive marketing to overstate their abilities.
- Legal Loopholes: The tactic may be legal, but it doesn't guarantee it will go to inbox
Key considerations
- Prioritize Ethical Practices: Prioritize ethical and sustainable practices for long-term success in email marketing.
- Build Trust with Subscribers: Focus on building trust with subscribers through permission-based sending and valuable content.
- Maintain Good List Hygiene: Implement proper bounce handling and list hygiene to minimize bounce rates.
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Regularly monitor sender and IP reputation and address any issues that may impact deliverability.
- Avoid Quick Fixes: Focus on building genuine engagement rather than relying on quick fixes offered by guarantee companies.
- Understand Email Filtering: Understand how email filtering mechanisms work and the importance of factors like sender reputation and engagement.
- Warm Up: Legitimate deliverability efforts focus on gradual warming and consistent engagement
- Transparency: Ensure a transparent and sustainable practice
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Companies guaranteeing email inbox placement are problematic due to their reliance on unethical practices and a misunderstanding of how email filtering works. These services often employ tactics like purchasing email lists, using click farms, and neglecting proper list hygiene, which damage sender reputation and violate anti-spam laws. They prioritize short-term gains over building trust with subscribers and maintaining sustainable, ethical practices. Moreover, they often provide fake engagement, bypass permission-based sending, ignore engagement metrics, and compromise on list quality. In essence, their tactics can lead to long-term deliverability issues, increased spam complaints, and damaged IP reputations, ultimately harming email marketing efforts.
Key opinions
- Unethical Practices: Guaranteed placement services often use unethical or black-hat practices like purchasing email lists and employing click farms, which can damage sender reputation.
- Misunderstanding of ESP Algorithms: These guarantees fail to account for the complex algorithms used by ESPs like Gmail and Yahoo, which consider a multitude of factors, not just deliverability.
- Fake Engagement: They rely on fake engagement, such as bots or paid users clicking links, which email providers can detect and penalize.
- Bypassing Best Practices: Legitimate email marketing focuses on building trust and providing value. Guaranteed placement services bypass these crucial steps, resulting in spam complaints.
- Compromised List Quality: These services often compromise on list quality, using purchased or scraped lists, leading to a high number of invalid or unengaged email addresses.
- Damaged Reputation: The tactics employed can damage sender reputation, leading to long-term deliverability issues and filtering problems.
Key considerations
- Focus on Ethical Practices: Prioritize sustainable, ethical practices for long-term email marketing success, rather than relying on quick fixes.
- Build Trust: Focus on building trust with subscribers through permission-based sending and valuable content.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Practice proper list hygiene and bounce handling to maintain a good sender reputation.
- Monitor Engagement Metrics: Pay attention to engagement metrics and avoid artificial engagement, as email providers can detect and penalize it.
- ESP Algorithms: Understand that email service providers use complex algorithms to determine inbox placement.
- Warm-Up: Legitimate deliverability efforts focus on gradual warming and consistent engagement.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit shares that guarantees often rely on fake engagement, such as bots or paid users clicking links, which email providers can detect and penalize. This artificial engagement provides no real value and can negatively impact sender reputation.
5 Aug 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that inboxally and warmy and whatever else SOUND like they're doing EXACTLY what every proper deliverability expert is saying: they're providing "engaged" audience, and that creates an annoyingly large set of irritations.
5 Apr 2023 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
9 expert opinions
Companies guaranteeing email inbox placement are problematic because they often employ unethical, unsustainable, and misleading practices based on a misunderstanding of email filtering. Experts highlight that these companies leverage tactics that harm sender reputation in the long run, often involving violations of email best practices and leading to blacklisting. They utilize methods such as exploiting legal loopholes, faking engagement through tools or cheap labor, and misrepresenting their ability to solve deliverability issues. Furthermore, major email providers like Google and Microsoft are actively working against these practices by revoking API keys and pursuing legal action.
Key opinions
- Legal Loopholes Don't Guarantee Inboxing: Just because an email marketing practice is legal doesn't mean Google will deliver the mail to the inbox.
- Misleading Marketing Tactics: Companies selling deliverability services often exaggerate their ability to solve problems and use slick marketing to attract clients.
- Detection of Fake Engagement: Mailbox providers can identify and penalize emails used by services to artificially mark mail as 'not spam'.
- Active Countermeasures by Email Providers: Google and Microsoft are actively combating these practices by revoking API keys and pursuing legal action against those involved.
- Unethical Practices: Guaranteed inbox placement services often employ unethical or unsustainable practices that ultimately harm sender reputation.
- Misunderstanding of Email Filtering: Deliverability guarantees are frequently based on a misunderstanding of how email filtering works.
- Use of Engagement Tools: Tools are used to create engagement by artificially marking emails as not spam, and they are often used for warmups.
- Misleading: Deliverability guarantees are often misleading. They frequently involve practices that are not transparent or sustainable and may not provide long-term value.
Key considerations
- Focus on Ethical and Sustainable Practices: Prioritize building a solid sender reputation through ethical and sustainable practices rather than relying on quick fixes.
- Be Wary of Misleading Claims: Exercise caution when dealing with companies promising guaranteed inbox placement, as their practices may be harmful.
- Understand Email Filtering Mechanisms: Gain a better understanding of how email filtering works to avoid falling for unrealistic guarantees.
- Consider the Long-Term Impact: Evaluate the potential long-term consequences of using these services on your sender reputation and deliverability.
- Engagement isn't real: Understand that engagement might be fake and be generated by tools or cheap labour.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that there are multiple tools that mark all emails as not spam, and that these tools 'create engagement' and are also the same tools folks use for warmups.
2 Mar 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that companies guaranteeing inbox placement often employ unethical or unsustainable practices that ultimately harm sender reputation and deliverability in the long run. They often rely on tactics that violate email best practices and can lead to blacklisting.
13 Jun 2024 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Companies guaranteeing email inbox placement are problematic because their tactics often disregard essential deliverability factors, leading to negative consequences. They frequently damage sender reputation, neglect proper bounce handling and list hygiene which results in high bounce rates, ignore the importance of maintaining a low spam complaint rate that can inflate spam complaints, and lead to poor IP reputations. These issues cause deliverability problems with major email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Hotmail, undermining long-term email marketing success.
Key findings
- Damaged Sender Reputation: Companies guaranteeing placement often damage sender reputation through tactics that lead to blacklisting, harming long-term deliverability.
- Neglected Bounce Handling & List Hygiene: They frequently neglect proper bounce handling and list hygiene, leading to high bounce rates and further damaging sender reputation.
- Increased Spam Complaint Rates: These services often ignore the importance of maintaining a low spam complaint rate, which can inflate spam complaints, leading to filtering issues with Gmail.
- Poor IP Reputation: Guarantees often lead to a poor IP reputation, causing deliverability issues with Outlook and Hotmail.
Key considerations
- Prioritize Sender Reputation: Focus on building and maintaining a positive sender reputation through ethical email marketing practices.
- Implement Proper Bounce Handling: Ensure proper bounce handling and list hygiene to minimize bounce rates and maintain list quality.
- Maintain Low Spam Complaint Rate: Strive to maintain a low spam complaint rate to avoid filtering issues and improve deliverability.
- Monitor IP Reputation: Regularly monitor IP reputation to identify and address any issues that may impact deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that guarantees are problematic because they often lead to a poor IP reputation. Services promising placement can damage your sending IP's reputation, causing deliverability issues with Outlook and Hotmail.
8 Jan 2024 - Microsoft
Technical article
Documentation from Spamhaus explains that a positive sender reputation is crucial for inbox placement. Companies guaranteeing placement often damage this reputation by using tactics that lead to blacklisting, harming long-term deliverability.
24 Mar 2022 - Spamhaus
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