Summary
Modern email deliverability is primarily driven by sender reputation and recipient engagement, with the role of isolated 'spam trigger words' significantly diminished. While these words were once a key filtering mechanism, advanced AI and machine learning-powered spam filters now analyze a comprehensive range of factors, prioritizing overall content quality, sender history, and user interactions over the mere presence of specific keywords. Though their direct impact is minimal, certain contexts or very old filter systems might still give them some weight, and 'spammy' language can indirectly harm reputation by prompting negative user behaviors.
Key findings
- Reputation is Key: The overwhelming consensus is that sender reputation and recipient engagement are the primary drivers of email deliverability, significantly more important than the presence of isolated 'spam trigger words'.
- Advanced Filters Rule: Modern spam filters, powered by AI and machine learning, analyze a comprehensive range of factors including authentication, content patterns, sending history, and user behavior, rather than simply flagging specific keywords.
- Keywords' Indirect Role: While not directly causing flagging, 'spammy-keywords' are often associated with negative user behaviors like spam complaints or deletions. These negative actions directly harm sender reputation, indirectly affecting deliverability.
- Context Over Words: The overall context, intent, and perceived value of an email's content are far more critical. Spam trigger words were an early, temporary filtering measure that have become largely redundant as filtering technology advanced.
Key considerations
- Prioritize Reputation: Focus on building and maintaining a strong sender reputation through proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), consistent sending practices, and a low spam complaint rate.
- Cultivate Engagement: Send highly relevant and valuable content to engaged recipients to encourage positive interactions like opens and clicks, which significantly boost your deliverability, while avoiding actions that lead to unsubscribes or spam reports.
- Review Overall Content: Instead of fixating on specific words, ensure your email content is of high quality, relevant, and provides value to the recipient. Avoid overly promotional, deceptive, or suspicious language that could prompt negative user behavior.
- Consider Edge Cases: While rare, understand that extremely old or less sophisticated spam filters, or specific ISP content rules, might still react to particular words or excessive repetition. However, this is a minor concern compared to overall reputation.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
The direct impact of 'spam trigger words' on email deliverability has largely diminished in the modern email landscape. While these terms were once a significant factor for older spam filters, contemporary systems rely on sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms that prioritize a holistic view of sender reputation, recipient engagement, and the overall context of email content. Although isolated keywords are far less critical, certain phrases can still indirectly affect deliverability by influencing negative user behaviors, which ultimately harm sender reputation. For optimal deliverability, focusing on a strong sender history, valuable content, and positive user interactions is paramount.
Key opinions
- Reputation Outweighs Words: The overwhelming consensus among email deliverability experts is that sender and domain reputation, coupled with recipient engagement, are vastly more influential for deliverability than isolated 'spam trigger words'.
- Advanced Filtering Methods: Modern spam filters leverage advanced AI and machine learning, analyzing complex factors like email authentication, content patterns, overall message quality, and user behavior, rather than relying on simple keyword lists.
- Indirect Word Impact: While not directly flagging emails, 'spammy' language can indirectly harm deliverability by prompting negative user actions- such as marking an email as spam or deleting it unread- which in turn damages sender reputation.
- Context is Key: The overall context, perceived value, and intent of an email's content are far more significant than the mere presence of specific words. What was once a direct filtering mechanism has largely become redundant as filter technology evolved.
Key considerations
- Cultivate Sender Reputation: Prioritize building and maintaining a stellar sender reputation by adhering to email authentication standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, ensuring low bounce rates, and minimizing spam complaints. Your historical sending behavior is critical.
- Drive Meaningful Engagement: Focus on sending relevant, valuable content to a well-segmented audience to encourage positive interactions such as opens, clicks, and replies. High engagement signals to ISPs that your emails are desired and valuable, boosting placement.
- Review Overall Message Context: Instead of obsessing over individual words, assess your email's overall context, tone, and intent. Ensure your content is clear, honest, and provides value, avoiding overly salesy, suspicious, or deceptive language that could indirectly trigger negative user behavior.
- Be Mindful of Legacy Systems: While rare, understand that some very old spam filter installations or highly specific ISP content rules might still give minor weight to certain keywords or excessive repetition. However, this is a secondary concern compared to overall reputation and engagement.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that most deliverability experts believe sender reputation matters more than specific words in emails.
24 Dec 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks responds that for most modern domains, sender reputation is more critical than avoiding common spam trigger words, unless mailing to very old, less sophisticated spam filters like those 15-year-old SpamAssassin installs.
29 Sep 2024 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Email deliverability is no longer significantly impacted by individual 'spam trigger words', which were a temporary, early-stage filtering measure. Modern spam filters have evolved to advanced, sophisticated systems that prioritize a comprehensive evaluation of signals, including sender reputation, recipient engagement metrics, and overall content patterns. While specific keywords rarely cause emails to be blocked on their own, the use of overtly 'spammy' language can still indirectly damage deliverability by provoking negative user reactions, which in turn degrades sender reputation. Therefore, current deliverability success relies on a holistic approach emphasizing overall email quality and a strong sender identity, rather than avoiding specific word lists.
Key opinions
- Shift in Filtering Paradigm: Spam filtering has transitioned from basic keyword matching to complex, AI-driven analysis focusing on a holistic view of sender metrics and recipient interactions.
- Reputation's Dominance: Sender reputation, engagement levels, and overall sending patterns are now the paramount factors determining email deliverability, far outweighing the impact of individual words.
- Indirect Influence of Language: While specific 'trigger words' don't directly block emails, using language perceived as spammy can still indirectly harm deliverability by leading to recipient complaints or low engagement, which negatively impacts sender reputation.
- Outdated Strategy: Relying on lists of 'spam trigger words' is an outdated and ineffective strategy for improving deliverability; the focus must be on overall email quality and context.
Key considerations
- Focus on Sender Authority: Consistently build and protect your sender reputation by employing robust authentication, maintaining clean lists, and adhering to best practices, as this is the primary signal to ISPs.
- Foster True Engagement: Design email campaigns that genuinely resonate with your audience, leading to desired actions like opens and clicks, and avoiding behaviors that might trigger spam complaints or unsubscribes.
- Holistic Content Review: Evaluate your email content for overall quality, clarity, and value, ensuring it doesn't appear deceptive or overly promotional, rather than nitpicking individual words.
- Prioritize User Desirability: Ensure your mail is truly wanted by recipients, as filters prioritize whether an email is desired and valued by the subscriber over its keyword content.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that 'spammy-keywords' were early iterations of spam filters, used because a lot of spam contained them, not due to recipient behavior. She clarifies they were only useful briefly as a temporary measure to stem the high volume of spam.
10 Jun 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that while specific 'trigger words' are less significant due to advanced spam filtering, they still play a role but not in isolation. Modern filters assess a combination of factors, including sender reputation, engagement, content, and infrastructure, making over-reliance on 'trigger word' lists an outdated approach where context and overall email quality are more important.
14 Aug 2021 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Leading email providers and marketing platforms confirm that the relevance of 'spam trigger words' for email deliverability has largely receded. Instead of relying on simple keyword blacklists, advanced spam filters, powered by sophisticated algorithms, now predominantly evaluate a sender's reputation, email authentication, overall content relevance, and recipient engagement. While specific words themselves rarely trigger a block, content that appears 'spammy' can indirectly harm deliverability by leading to negative recipient actions, such as spam complaints or deletions, which degrade sender reputation. The consensus is to prioritize a holistic approach centered on trust, value, and positive user interaction.
Key findings
- Sender Trust is Paramount: Major email providers like Google and Microsoft, along with marketing platforms such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact, unanimously emphasize that sender reputation is the single most critical factor for successful email delivery.
- Authentication & Engagement Drive Delivery: Deliverability is primarily determined by robust email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), a history of low spam complaints, and high levels of recipient engagement, far superseding the impact of specific keywords.
- Holistic Content Analysis: Modern spam filters analyze the overall context, intent, and value of an email's content, rather than merely scanning for individual 'trigger words'. This comprehensive assessment ensures desired content reaches the inbox.
- Content's Behavioral Impact: While specific words don't directly block emails, using overtly 'spammy' or deceptive language can still indirectly hurt deliverability by prompting recipients to mark emails as spam, which directly damages the sender's reputation.
Key considerations
- Prioritize Authentication: Ensure all emails are properly authenticated using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This builds sender trust with ISPs and is a foundational element for good deliverability.
- Encourage Desired Actions: Focus on sending relevant, valuable content to a highly engaged audience to encourage positive interactions, such as opens and clicks, which signals to mailbox providers that your emails are desired.
- Monitor Spam Complaint Rates: Actively work to keep spam complaint rates extremely low. A high complaint rate is a direct signal of unwanted mail and severely harms sender reputation with service providers like Google and Microsoft.
- Focus on Overall Quality: Shift focus from individual words to the overall quality, relevance, and value of your email content. Ensure your messages are honest and provide genuine benefit to recipients.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Support explains that for optimal email deliverability, senders should prioritize authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintain a low spam complaint rate, send only to engaged recipients, and adhere to industry best practices. The guidelines emphasize reputation and user engagement over specific content keywords.
15 Sep 2021 - Google Support
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft Sender Support highlights that successful email delivery to Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 users heavily relies on the sender's reputation. They emphasize that maintaining a good reputation through proper authentication, low spam complaints, and sending desired content is paramount, indicating that sophisticated filters consider overall sender behavior and recipient engagement much more than specific keywords.
17 Apr 2023 - Microsoft Sender Support
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