Summary
Microsoft domains, including popular free services like Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, extensively leverage user feedback, often termed SRD (SmartScreen Reputation Data) votes, as a cornerstone of their email reputation system. These systems, powered by Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, dynamically incorporate recipient actions, such as marking emails as spam or 'not junk,' or engaging with content, to determine a sender's trustworthiness. While this user-driven feedback is crucial for consumer-facing domains, corporate or Office365 hosted domains and microsoft.com may operate under distinct, often stricter, blocking policies where appeals are handled differently and SRD votes might not apply in the same manner.
Key findings
- SRD Votes Confirmed: Microsoft domains, particularly free services like Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, actively use SRD (SmartScreen Reputation Data) votes, which include direct user feedback, to assess email sender reputation.
- User Feedback is Paramount: Microsoft's filtering algorithms, including SmartScreen, are heavily influenced by explicit user actions such as reporting an email as spam, marking it as 'not junk,' opening, or clicking.
- Complaint Rates are Critical: High complaint rates, even small percentages, significantly degrade a sender's reputation, often leading to emails being routed to the junk folder or blocked entirely by Microsoft properties.
- Dynamic Reputation System: Microsoft Defender SmartScreen's reputation service is built on dynamic data, constantly updated with real-time user feedback, directly impacting deliverability.
- Distinction in Domain Policies: While free domains like Outlook.com heavily rely on user feedback, corporate or Office365 hosted domains and microsoft.com may have different, potentially stricter, blocking policies where SRD votes might not apply in the same manner.
- Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP): Microsoft's Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP) explicitly allows senders to receive copies of emails marked as junk by users, directly confirming their reliance on user feedback for reputation management.
Key considerations
- Prioritize List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove inactive or disengaged subscribers, which helps minimize spam complaints and maintains a healthy sender reputation with Microsoft.
- Focus on Engagement: Create valuable, desired content that encourages positive user interactions like opens and clicks. These positive 'votes' are crucial for improving deliverability to Microsoft inboxes.
- Monitor Complaint Rates: Closely track spam complaint rates, for instance through feedback loops like JERP, as even a small percentage of negative 'votes' can significantly harm your standing with Microsoft domains.
- Understand Policy Nuances: Be aware that deliverability policies may differ between free Microsoft domains like Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, and corporate or Office365 hosted domains, which could have stricter rules.
- Utilize Feedback Programs: Participate in Microsoft's Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP) to gain direct insight into how your emails are being perceived by users and to adjust sending practices accordingly.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Yes, Microsoft domains, including Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, heavily rely on user feedback, which functions as direct 'votes,' to determine email sender reputation and deliverability. Email marketing experts consistently affirm that user engagement signals, both positive (like opens and clicks) and negative (such as marking an email as spam), are foundational to Microsoft's filtering algorithms, including SmartScreen. A high volume of negative 'votes' quickly damages a sender's standing, often resulting in messages being delivered to the junk folder or blocked entirely. Conversely, positive user interactions contribute significantly to a sender's trustworthiness, directly influencing whether emails land in the recipient's inbox.
Key opinions
- User Feedback is Paramount: Microsoft domains, including Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, primarily determine sender reputation based on direct user feedback, which functions as crucial 'votes' for their filtering systems.
- Negative Votes Hurt Deliverability: Spam complaints are highly impactful negative 'votes.' Even a small number of these can significantly degrade a sender's reputation, causing emails to be routed to the junk folder or blocked.
- Engagement Boosts Reputation: Positive user interactions, such as opening emails and clicking links, serve as positive 'votes' that improve a sender's reputation and enhance the likelihood of inbox placement with Microsoft domains.
- Algorithms Prioritize User Actions: Microsoft's filtering algorithms, including SmartScreen, are designed to prioritize and react swiftly to recipient actions, directly influencing reputation and future deliverability.
- Reputation is Dynamic: Sender reputation with Microsoft domains is not static; it constantly evolves based on real-time user feedback, making consistent positive engagement and low complaint rates essential.
Key considerations
- Prioritize User Engagement: Focus on creating content that encourages positive interactions, such as opens and clicks. High engagement acts as a positive 'vote' and is crucial for improving deliverability to Microsoft inboxes.
- Minimize Spam Complaints: Actively work to reduce spam complaint rates, as even a small percentage of negative feedback can severely damage your sender reputation with Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, leading to junk folder placement or blocking.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email lists to remove inactive or disengaged subscribers. This practice helps prevent negative user feedback and sustains a healthy sender reputation with Microsoft domains.
- Send Desired Content: Ensure your emails are relevant and anticipated by recipients. Content that aligns with subscriber expectations reduces the likelihood of negative 'votes' and promotes better inbox placement.
- Monitor Feedback Loops: Utilize Microsoft's feedback loop programs, like the Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP), to gain insights into how users are marking your emails, allowing for prompt adjustments to your sending strategy.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Twilio SendGrid explains that Microsoft Outlook heavily relies on user engagement and spam complaints to determine sender reputation. They emphasize that low engagement and high complaint rates, essentially negative 'votes' from users, will significantly impact deliverability to Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and other Microsoft domains, indicating these factors are crucial for inbox placement.
29 Aug 2023 - Twilio SendGrid Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailgun highlights that Microsoft's filtering algorithms, including SmartScreen, prioritize user feedback. They state that actions such as marking an email as junk or moving it to the inbox (positive or negative 'votes') directly influence a sender's reputation and subsequent deliverability to Outlook.com and Hotmail.com addresses, making user actions a key reputation factor.
13 Oct 2022 - Mailgun Blog
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts confirm that Microsoft domains, including consumer-focused services like Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, indeed employ SRD (SmartScreen Reputation Data) votes as a core component of their email reputation assessment. This system integrates direct customer feedback, acting as 'votes,' to effectively filter incoming mail and determine sender trustworthiness. While free domains extensively utilize these SRD mechanisms, corporate domains like microsoft.com and Office365 hosted services may operate under different, often more stringent, blocking policies where the direct application of SRD votes might not be identical, and appeal processes differ significantly.
Key opinions
- SRD System Explained: Microsoft domains, encompassing services like Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, utilize SRD (SmartScreen Reputation Data) as an anti-spam filter that analyzes millions of emails and incorporates customer feedback, or 'votes,' to build sender reputation.
- Vote-Based Reputation: Customer feedback, explicitly gathered as 'votes' through SRD, is a fundamental input for Microsoft properties to assess sender reputation and manage email deliverability.
- Domain-Specific Policies: While SRD votes are crucial for free consumer domains, corporate domains such as microsoft.com and those hosted on Office365 likely have distinct and stricter blocking policies, where SRD votes may not apply directly.
- Real-World SRD Requests: An expert reported receiving requests for SRD votes for their msn.com address, confirming the active implementation of this reputation system.
Key considerations
- Acknowledge SRD Impact: Recognize that direct user feedback, channeled through SRD votes, significantly influences your sender reputation and deliverability to Microsoft's consumer domains.
- Tailor Strategies for Domain Types: Be aware of the distinct policy differences between free Microsoft domains (Outlook.com, Hotmail.com) which rely on SRD, and corporate or Office365 domains, which may have stricter, non-SRD related blocking rules.
- Encourage Positive User Feedback: Strive for content and sending practices that elicit positive user interactions, effectively generating favorable 'votes' within the SmartScreen Reputation Data system.
- Mitigate Negative Feedback: Proactively identify and address sources of negative user feedback, such as spam complaints, as these detrimental 'votes' can severely damage your standing with Microsoft domains.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that Microsoft likely performs SRD votes for all their free domains, but not for microsoft.com or Office365 hosted domains. She notes that microsoft.com has distinct and stricter blocking policies, where they can block anything for any reason with appeals only to executives.
2 Jan 2025 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that he occasionally receives requests to vote on SRD for his msn.com address.
6 Dec 2021 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Microsoft domains, including services like Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, integrate user feedback as a fundamental driver of their email reputation system. Official Microsoft documentation confirms that the Defender SmartScreen service dynamically incorporates recipient actions, which function as 'votes,' directly influencing sender scores and, consequently, email deliverability. This reliance is further highlighted by programs like the Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP), which explicitly shows user-initiated spam reports are critical signals for assessing and adjusting sender reputation, directly impacting whether emails land in the inbox or are filtered to junk.
Key findings
- SmartScreen Dynamic Reputation: Microsoft Defender SmartScreen's reputation service, which filters email, is built on dynamic data that constantly updates, incorporating user feedback to directly influence reputation scores for deliverability to Microsoft domains like Outlook.com.
- JERP Confirms User 'Votes': The Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP) explicitly confirms that user 'votes,' in the form of spam reports by Outlook.com users, are a crucial signal Microsoft uses to assess and adjust sender reputation.
- Complaint Rates are Critical: Microsoft's Sender Support for Outlook.com advises senders to monitor and avoid high complaint rates, demonstrating that user complaints are heavily weighted in determining sender reputation for Outlook.com and Hotmail.com deliverability.
Key considerations
- Monitor User Feedback: Actively track and respond to user feedback signals, especially negative ones like spam reports, as these directly influence your sender reputation and deliverability to Microsoft domains.
- Utilize JERP Insights: Participate in Microsoft's Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP) to gain direct visibility into how Outlook.com users are marking your emails, enabling prompt adjustments to your sending strategy.
- Prioritize Low Complaint Rates: Implement rigorous practices to maintain exceptionally low complaint rates, as Microsoft heavily factors user complaints into its reputation assessment for Outlook.com and Hotmail.com, directly affecting inbox placement.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that Microsoft Defender SmartScreen's reputation-based service, which applies to email filtering, is built on dynamic data that is constantly updated. This includes feedback from users who report suspicious items, directly influencing the reputation scores that affect email deliverability to Microsoft domains like Outlook.com.
19 Mar 2023 - Microsoft Learn
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft Learn on the Junk Email Reporting Program (JERP) explicitly states that this program allows senders to receive copies of emails marked as junk by Outlook.com users. This mechanism directly demonstrates that user 'votes' in the form of spam reports are a crucial signal Microsoft uses to assess and adjust sender reputation, impacting future email deliverability.
7 May 2024 - Microsoft Learn
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