How do I deal with a Suomispam blacklist listing affecting my email deliverability?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 30 Jul 2025
Updated 16 Aug 2025
7 min read
Finding one of your IPs or domains on a blocklist (or blacklist) can certainly be unsettling. It raises immediate concerns about your email deliverability and whether your messages are actually reaching their intended inboxes. While a listing on a major blocklist like Spamhaus might indeed signal a significant problem, it's important to remember that not all blacklists carry the same weight or impact on your global email sending reputation.
Suomispam is one such blocklist that sometimes generates concern among senders. My goal is to help you understand what a Suomispam listing truly means for your email deliverability and guide you through the necessary steps to address it, focusing on practical actions rather than undue alarm. The key is to first determine if the listing is causing actual issues, then address any underlying problems.
Suomispam is a regional DNS blacklist (DNSBL) that primarily focuses on listing IPs associated with spamvertised sites, meaning domains that are promoted through unsolicited email. Unlike global blocklists that impact delivery broadly, Suomispam's influence is generally limited, often affecting only mail servers or ISPs that specifically choose to use it for filtering, predominantly in Nordic regions. This means that for many senders, a Suomispam listing might have minimal to no measurable effect on overall deliverability.
A common point of confusion arises when using various online blocklist checking tools. Some of these tools might incorrectly indicate a listing due to shared hosting environments, where another domain on the same IP is listed, not yours directly. Suomispam's own FAQ clarifies this, stating, "Almost none of the domain delist requests are for domains that we actually list... some lookup sites totally mix up the concept of shared hosting and may claim that you are listed when in fact someone else on the same hosting provider is listed." It's crucial to differentiate between a theoretical listing and one that genuinely causes delivery failures for your emails.
The primary concern with any blacklist listing is its actual impact on your email program. Before taking any drastic steps, I always recommend verifying whether the Suomispam listing is causing legitimate delivery issues. You can gain more insight into this by consulting resources that discuss how to get off Suomispam, which often highlights the limited impact of this specific blocklist.
Major blacklists
Impact: Can significantly disrupt deliverability across major ISPs (Internet Service Providers) like Google and Microsoft. Their data is widely used for filtering.
Delisting: Often involves addressing the root cause, demonstrating improved sending practices, and then submitting a formal delisting request.
Scope: Broad, typically covers various types of spam, malware, or abusive traffic.
Suomispam
Impact: Primarily affects email delivery to Finnish or Nordic ISPs. Limited global impact.
Delisting: Often challenging, as they may not easily engage in delisting, especially for IPs previously associated with spamvertised sites. Listings can be persistent.
Scope: Niche, specifically targeting IPs or domains tied to spam advertisements.
Identifying the cause and attempting delisting
The first critical step is to determine if the Suomispam blocklist is actually impacting your email delivery. This means checking your bounce messages. If recipients are truly rejecting your emails due to the Suomispam listing, you will see specific bounce codes or messages that reference Suomispam. Without such evidence, the listing may not be causing any real-world problems for your campaigns, especially if your audience is not primarily in the Nordic region. Sometimes, the concern stems from an IP address being blocklisted on Suomispam, which may or may not translate to actual delivery failures.
Example bounce messages referencing Suomispam
550 5.7.1 Service unavailable; Client host [X.X.X.X] blocked using Suomispam (https://suomispam.net/)
554 5.7.1 Service unavailable; Client host [X.X.X.X] blocked. Refer to: Suomispam.net
If you do identify bounce messages explicitly referencing Suomispam, the next step is to investigate the root cause. Suomispam specifically lists spamvertised sites. This means your IP or domain might be associated with websites advertised through spam, or perhaps your domain itself is being used in spam campaigns. Identifying and eliminating the activity that led to this association is paramount. This might involve auditing your website, checking for compromises, or reviewing any affiliate marketing activities tied to your domain.
Delisting from Suomispam can be a challenging process. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they are not always responsive or reasonable to deal with, and their listings do not typically expire. This means that once listed, your IP might remain on their blacklist indefinitely. However, their policy states that to delist, "the reason for the listing must go away." This reinforces the importance of fixing the underlying issue rather than solely focusing on the delisting request itself. For a broader understanding of how blacklists work, a general guide can be helpful.
Challenges with Suomispam delisting
Even after you identify and rectify the issue that led to the listing, direct engagement with Suomispam for delisting can be difficult. They are known for not expiring listings and for being less responsive than other DNSBLs. Focus on resolving the core problem, as this is the only path to potential removal according to their stated policies.
Strategies for maintaining email deliverability
Regardless of whether a Suomispam listing significantly impacts your current deliverability, maintaining a strong overall email reputation and implementing proactive measures is crucial. This not only mitigates the risk of future blocklist (or blacklist) listings but also ensures optimal inbox placement across all recipients. It's about building a robust sending infrastructure that withstands potential reputation challenges. Understanding what a blocklisting means is the first step towards prevention.
Key to preventing blocklist issues is rigorous list hygiene. Regularly cleaning your email lists ensures you're not sending to invalid, inactive, or spam trap addresses. Spam traps are a major cause of listings on blocklists, including niche ones like Suomispam. Implementing a double opt-in process for new subscribers and segmenting your audience can also significantly improve engagement and reduce complaint rates, which contribute to a positive sender reputation. Explore our guide on spam traps to learn more.
Proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) is non-negotiable for modern email deliverability. These protocols verify that your emails are legitimately from your domain and haven't been tampered with. Mailbox providers heavily rely on authentication to filter out fraudulent and spammy messages. Ensure your DNS records are correctly configured for these standards. A useful resource for this is a simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
Action
Benefit for deliverability
Impact on Suomispam
Regular list cleaning
Reduces bounces, spam complaints, and hits on spam traps, improving sender reputation.
Minimizes risk of appearing on Suomispam if associated with spam traps.
Strong authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Establishes domain authenticity, builds trust with mailbox providers, and helps prevent spoofing.
Enhances overall email legitimacy, indirectly reducing chances of blocklisting.
Monitor sending reputation
Allows early detection of issues, enabling quick remediation before problems escalate.
Helps identify if a Suomispam listing is causing actual bounces.
Consistent email volume and content
Builds a predictable sending pattern, which is favored by mailbox providers and reduces spam flags.
Less likely to trigger spamvertised content flags with stable, non-abusive sending.
Prioritizing your email reputation
A Suomispam blacklist (or blocklist) listing can be alarming, but it often does not have a widespread impact on email deliverability, especially outside of specific regional contexts. The most important action is to verify if the listing is causing actual bounces or delivery issues. If it is, the focus should be on identifying and eliminating the underlying cause, particularly anything related to spamvertised content.
Ultimately, maintaining excellent email deliverability means prioritizing proactive email hygiene, implementing robust authentication, and consistently monitoring your sender reputation. These practices will serve you far better than reactive responses to every minor blacklist notification. For more comprehensive insights into email deliverability, consider exploring our article on email deliverability issues.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always verify if a blocklist listing is causing actual deliverability issues by checking your bounce logs.
Prioritize fixing the root cause of any listing, rather than just focusing on delisting requests.
Maintain rigorous email list hygiene to avoid spam traps and reduce the likelihood of listings.
Implement strong email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to build and protect your sender reputation.
Common pitfalls
Overreacting to listings on minor or regional blocklists that have limited global impact.
Relying solely on third-party blocklist checking sites without validating actual deliverability issues.
Ignoring the root cause of the listing, leading to potential re-listing or reputation damage elsewhere.
Failing to explain to customers that different blocklists have different levels of influence.
Expert tips
Focus your efforts on major blocklists that demonstrably impact your key recipient domains.
If your customer base is concentrated in a specific region, research regional blocklists relevant to that area.
Proactively monitor your email deliverability metrics, such as inbox placement and bounce rates, for real-time insights.
For difficult-to-delist blocklists, ensure the offending content is removed, even if removal from the list isn't immediate.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says to assess whether the Suomispam listing is actually affecting deliverability, and if not, consider ignoring it and moving on to more impactful issues.
2021-03-22 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that many lookup sites often confuse shared hosting environments, incorrectly indicating a listing when it's another tenant on the same IP. Suomispam specifically lists spamvertised sites, and delisting requires the reason for the listing to be removed.
Spamhaus
0Spam
Cisco
NoSolicitado
URIBL
abuse.ro
ALPHANET
Anonmails
Ascams
BLOCKEDSERVERS
Calivent Networks
EFnet
JustSpam
Kempt.net
NordSpam
RV-SOFT Technology
Scientific Spam
Spamikaze
SpamRATS
SPFBL
Suomispam
System 5 Hosting
Team Cymru
Validity
www.blocklist.de Fail2Ban-Reporting Service
ZapBL
2stepback.dk
Fayntic Services
ORB UK
technoirc.org
TechTheft
Google and 
Microsoft. Their data is widely used for filtering.
