What are InboxAlly's spamming practices and their impact?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 6 Jun 2025
Updated 14 Aug 2025
8 min read
Summary
InboxAlly, an email deliverability tool, has garnered attention for practices that some in the industry consider to be spamming. The core concern revolves around their alleged use of fake engagement through bots with real email accounts to manipulate inbox providers. This manipulation aims to pull or keep emails out of the spam folder or promotions tab, directing them instead to the primary inbox, even for non-opt-in lists. Such methods, if true, raise significant ethical questions and could have long-term negative impacts on sender reputation and overall email ecosystem health.
Key findings
Alleged Spamming: InboxAlly is accused of facilitating spam by sending emails to non-opt-in addresses and then artificially boosting engagement metrics for those emails.
Fake Engagement: The platform reportedly uses an army of bots with real email accounts to open emails, flag them as not spam, and move them to the primary inbox, thereby teaching inbox providers to favor those senders.
Non-Opt-in Lists: The service appears to be promoted for use with lists where recipients have not explicitly opted in, directly contradicting standard email marketing best practices and compliance requirements.
Key considerations
Ethical Implications: Relying on artificial engagement signals is deceptive and undermines legitimate efforts to build sender reputation through organic interaction. This can also lead to issues with domain reputation.
Inbox Provider Reaction: While such tactics may offer short-term gains, inbox providers are continuously evolving their spam detection algorithms. Methods designed to trick these filters are likely to be identified and penalized over time, potentially leading to severe deliverability issues for users. This is why it's so important to understand why your emails are going to spam.
Long-Term Deliverability: True email deliverability is built on genuine recipient engagement and adherence to anti-spam policies. Artificially inflated metrics do not reflect actual audience interest and can mask underlying problems with email strategy. Learn more about how InboxAlly functions as an email deliverability tool on Martech Zone.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often seek tools to improve inbox placement, but approaches like InboxAlly's generate mixed reactions. While some might be tempted by promises of high engagement, others express concerns about the legitimacy and ethical implications of using artificial methods. The discussion among marketers frequently highlights a tension between the desire for quick results and the need for sustainable, compliant email practices.
Key opinions
Skepticism about legitimacy: Many marketers view tactics involving fake engagement as fundamentally problematic and unsustainable for long-term email health.
Amusement at direct admission: Some find it surprising, or even amusing, that a company would openly admit to facilitating what is widely considered spam, even when promoting high open rates.
Focus on deliverability challenges: The broader conversation often shifts to the difficulty of achieving good deliverability authentically, underscoring the appeal of tools that promise to bypass these challenges, regardless of their methods.
Key considerations
Regulatory Compliance: Using tools that promote non-opt-in emailing could lead to serious legal repercussions, especially in regions with strict anti-spam laws like Canada's CASL. Marketers must be aware of when email is considered spam.
Reputational Risk: Associating with services that employ questionable tactics can severely damage a brand's reputation and lead to negative perceptions among legitimate recipients and email service providers.
Focus on genuine engagement: While tempting, relying on artificial means can distract marketers from building authentic subscriber relationships that yield long-term benefits. Understanding deliverability effects of unsolicited emails is crucial. For further insights into such tools, refer to reviews on platforms like SalesBread.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks observes that InboxAlly's CEO openly admitted to using the service to facilitate spam, expressing amusement at their brazen approach to marketing a questionable service. This suggests a disconnect between perceived industry norms and the actions of some providers.
19 Oct 2020 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Tekpon indicates that InboxAlly is designed to help emails land in the inbox instead of the spam folder by using real human engagement. However, the nature of this engagement is often debated within the deliverability community, particularly when non-opt-in lists are involved.
22 Jun 2025 - Tekpon
What the experts say
Deliverability experts generally agree that genuine engagement is crucial for inbox placement and sender reputation. They view artificial or bot-driven engagement as a short-sighted and harmful practice that ultimately damages the email ecosystem. Experts often highlight the ongoing battle between those seeking to manipulate email filters and the inbox providers working to maintain a clean and trustworthy environment for users.
Key opinions
Fake engagement is detrimental: Experts widely condemn the use of artificial engagement, asserting that it provides false signals to inbox providers and undermines legitimate deliverability efforts.
Inbox providers' responsibility: There's a strong consensus that inbox providers need to continually adapt and enhance their algorithms to detect and counteract such manipulative tactics effectively.
Long-term harm: While a tool like InboxAlly might offer temporary improvements, the long-term consequences of fake engagement include severe damage to sender reputation and potential blocklisting, which can be difficult to recover from.
Key considerations
Reputation Management: Engaging in artificial engagement can lead to permanent damage to sender reputation. This highlights the importance of tools like Spamcop listings and spam traps and understanding spam trap hits.
Evolution of Anti-Spam: The email industry is in a constant state of evolution regarding spam filtering and deliverability. Experts advise against trying to game the system, as these methods eventually become ineffective. This is part of the broader discussion on the future of email deliverability and AI's role in spam filtering.
True Engagement Focus: Experts recommend focusing on building genuine subscriber lists, creating valuable content, and fostering authentic engagement. These are the foundations for sustainable and successful email marketing, as discussed by authorities like Word to the Wise.
Expert view
Email expert from Email Geeks confirms that InboxAlly and its customers are indeed engaged in spamming practices, highlighting direct evidence of receiving unsolicited emails promoted by the service's CEO. This firsthand experience reinforces concerns about their methods.
19 Oct 2020 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Email expert from Spam Resource notes that while some tools claim to boost deliverability, their methods of creating artificial engagement are often indistinguishable from those used by spammers. Such tools manipulate metrics rather than foster genuine interest.
28 Apr 2025 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
Technical documentation and research on email deliverability consistently define spam as unsolicited bulk email (UBE) and emphasize the importance of explicit consent and legitimate engagement. They outline the mechanisms by which inbox providers detect and filter unwanted mail, focusing on sender reputation, authentication, and user feedback. Any practice that artificially inflates engagement or sends unsolicited mail fundamentally contradicts these established principles.
Key findings
Definition of Spam: Spam is broadly defined as any unsolicited communication sent in bulk, typically via email. This definition underpins the basis for most anti-spam measures.
Importance of Consent: Legitimate email marketing relies on explicit opt-in consent from recipients. Unsolicited emails, regardless of their content, are generally classified as spam.
Engagement Metrics: Genuine engagement (opens, clicks, replies) is a key signal for inbox providers, indicating that recipients value the mail. Artificial engagement attempts to mimic these signals without genuine user interest.
Deliverability Factors: Deliverability is influenced by a multitude of factors, including sender reputation, content quality, and proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), not just engagement metrics in isolation.
Key considerations
Anti-Spam Technologies: Inbox providers employ sophisticated filtering technologies, including blacklists and blocklists, to identify and reject spam. Manipulative tactics are designed to evade these, but risk detection.
User Feedback Loops: User complaints (marking as spam) are powerful negative signals that inbox providers use to inform their filtering decisions, often outweighing any artificial positive engagement.
Long-Term Consequences: Documentation emphasizes that engaging in spam-like activities can lead to severe and lasting damage to a sender's reputation, making it extremely difficult to achieve inbox placement in the future. Understanding how email blacklists work is critical. Further details on spam definitions can be found on Avast's website.
Technical article
Documentation from Avast defines spam as any unsolicited communication sent in bulk, usually via email. It highlights that spam can also be distributed through text messages, social media, or phone calls, broadening the scope of what constitutes unwanted digital communication.
10 Jan 2025 - Avast
Technical article
Documentation from Malwarebytes clarifies that spam is any unwanted, unsolicited digital communication sent out in bulk. It emphasizes that while email is a primary channel for spam, other digital platforms are also susceptible.
