Summary
Sending emails to addresses scraped from public websites poses numerous risks, spanning deliverability, legal compliance, and sender reputation. Scraping is often a violation of ISPs' terms of service and conflicts with anti-spam laws like CAN-SPAM and GDPR, potentially leading to fines and account suspension. Unsolicited emails to scraped addresses are frequently regarded as spam, resulting in blocks from companies and business email filters. These practices damage sender reputation due to low engagement, high bounce rates, and spam complaints, which trigger spam filters, leading to emails being blocked or sent to junk folders. Moreover, such lists often lack proper list hygiene, containing outdated or invalid email addresses.
Key findings
- Reputation Damage: Scraping significantly damages sender reputation due to spam complaints and low engagement.
- Legal Non-Compliance: Sending to scraped lists violates CAN-SPAM and GDPR, leading to potential fines and penalties.
- Deliverability Issues: Lack of opt-in results in low engagement and high bounce rates, negatively impacting deliverability.
- TOS Violation: Scraping violates ISPs' terms of service, risking account suspension.
- Considered Spam: Unsolicited emails to scraped addresses are frequently flagged as spam.
Key considerations
- Obtain Explicit Consent: Always obtain explicit consent before sending commercial emails to comply with legal requirements.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Focus on building and maintaining a clean, opted-in email list to improve deliverability.
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Regularly monitor sender reputation to address potential issues proactively.
- Implement Opt-Out Mechanisms: Provide clear and easy-to-use opt-out mechanisms to comply with regulations.
- Follow ISP Guidelines: Adhere to ISPs' terms of service to avoid account suspension and other penalties.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Sending emails to addresses scraped from public websites carries significant risks, primarily revolving around deliverability, legal compliance, and sender reputation. Scraped lists typically consist of recipients who haven't opted-in to receive communications, leading to low engagement rates, high spam complaint rates, and violations of anti-spam laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM. Email providers and ISPs actively monitor sender behavior, and negative signals associated with sending to scraped lists (e.g., low engagement, high bounce rates, spam complaints) can damage sender reputation, resulting in emails being filtered as spam, blocked, or sent to the junk folder. Moreover, many ISPs' terms of service explicitly prohibit scraping, and non-compliance can lead to account suspension or other penalties.
Key opinions
- Damaged Reputation: Scraping and sending unsolicited emails can significantly damage sender reputation.
- Deliverability Issues: Lack of opt-in leads to low engagement, high spam complaints, and deliverability problems.
- Legal Violations: Sending to scraped lists violates anti-spam laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM, leading to potential fines.
- Poor Engagement: Recipients are not expecting the emails, resulting in low open and click-through rates.
- Terms of Service Violation: Scraping violates most ISPs' terms of service and email policy.
Key considerations
- Obtain Consent: Always obtain explicit consent before sending commercial emails.
- Sender Reputation Monitoring: Continuously monitor sender reputation to identify and address potential issues promptly.
- List Hygiene: Focus on building and maintaining a clean, opted-in email list.
- Email Verification: Employ email verification services to minimize bounce rates when sending to unverified emails. If you do send to unverified emails a 10% or higher bounce rate risk is possible.
- Legal Compliance: Stay informed about and comply with all applicable anti-spam laws.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares that sending emails to scraped addresses can trigger spam filters, as these recipients have not explicitly opted in to receive communications. This lack of consent can lead to high spam complaint rates, which can damage your sender reputation and result in your emails being filtered as spam by email providers.
28 Feb 2022 - Sendinblue Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from Litmus Blog warns that scraping email addresses and sending unsolicited emails can damage your sender reputation, which is a key factor in email deliverability. A damaged sender reputation can lead to your emails being blocked or sent to the spam folder by email providers.
19 Feb 2022 - Litmus Blog
What the experts say
5 expert opinions
Sending emails to addresses scraped from public websites presents several potential risks, including being considered spam, facing blocks from companies and business email filters, and violating ISPs' terms of service. These addresses are not intended for unsolicited advertising and often lack explicit opt-in, leading to deliverability issues and potential blacklisting. User reports of spam, especially through platforms like Google or O365, can negatively impact sender reputation. While address harvesting itself may not always be illegal, using these addresses for unsolicited emails violates CAN-SPAM and other anti-spam regulations.
Key opinions
- Considered Spam: Sending emails to public contact addresses for advertising can be considered spam.
- Blocking Risks: Scraped addresses can lead to blocks from companies and business email filters.
- Terms of Service Violation: Scraping practices violate most ISPs' terms of service and email policies.
- Deliverability Issues: Lack of opt-in leads to deliverability problems and potential IP address blacklisting.
- Reputation Damage: User reports of spam can negatively impact sender reputation.
- Legal Violations: Using harvested addresses for unsolicited emails violates CAN-SPAM.
Key considerations
- Avoid Scraping: Refrain from scraping practices to adhere to ISPs' terms of service and policies.
- Obtain Consent: Ensure explicit opt-in before sending commercial emails to comply with regulations.
- Monitor Reputation: Regularly monitor sender reputation to address potential deliverability issues.
- Comply with Regulations: Stay informed about and comply with anti-spam regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR.
- Targeted Mailing: Contacting addresses specifically that are open to advertising can potentially reduce risks.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that sending mail to public contact addresses for advertising purposes, even if 'foraged' from public websites, can be considered spam. These addresses are intended for potential customers to contact the companies, not for unsolicited advertising.
31 Dec 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that some filters, like Cloudmark, use user reports to make blocking decisions. Business filters prioritize the usefulness of incoming mail for the business, and user reports of spam in platforms like Google or O365 can negatively impact the sending domain's reputation, leading to emails being sent to the bulk folder or being blocked. If the sending domain is the same as other mail from the organization it will cause delivery problems for other mail as well as the spam.
5 Jun 2022 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Sending emails to addresses scraped from public websites carries significant risks according to several key pieces of documentation. Mailchimp's terms of service are violated, potentially leading to account suspension, as these lists generate low engagement, high bounce rates, and spam complaints, all impacting sender reputation and deliverability. The CAN-SPAM Act mandates permission before emailing addresses, requiring a clear opt-out mechanism, which scraping circumvents. GDPR regulations are also violated by processing personal data (email addresses) without explicit consent, risking substantial fines. Furthermore, SparkPost highlights that list hygiene is crucial for maintaining sender reputation and deliverability; scraped lists undermine this due to outdated or invalid addresses, causing high bounce rates and spam complaints.
Key findings
- Terms of Service Violation: Using scraped lists violates Mailchimp's terms of service, potentially leading to account suspension.
- CAN-SPAM Violation: Sending to scraped lists without consent violates CAN-SPAM regulations.
- GDPR Violation: Processing email addresses without explicit consent violates GDPR regulations, risking fines.
- Poor List Hygiene: Scraped lists undermine list hygiene, leading to high bounce rates and spam complaints.
- Reputation Damage: Low engagement, high bounce rates, and spam complaints negatively impact sender reputation and deliverability.
Key considerations
- Adhere to Terms of Service: Avoid using purchased or scraped lists to comply with email service provider terms.
- Obtain Consent: Ensure explicit consent before sending commercial emails to comply with CAN-SPAM and GDPR.
- Practice List Hygiene: Maintain a clean, opted-in email list to ensure high deliverability and sender reputation.
- Implement Opt-Out: Always provide a clear and easy-to-use opt-out mechanism in all email communications.
- Regular List Cleaning: Clean email lists regularly of bounces and opt-outs to ensure continued health
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost emphasizes that good list hygiene is essential for maintaining a positive sender reputation and achieving high deliverability rates. Using scraped email lists undermines list hygiene practices, as these lists often contain outdated or invalid email addresses, leading to high bounce rates and spam complaints.
30 May 2022 - SparkPost
Technical article
Documentation from CAN-SPAM Act highlights that the act requires you to have permission before emailing an address, and outlines specific rules for commercial email, including a clear opt-out mechanism. Sending to scraped lists without consent violates these regulations.
24 May 2025 - FTC.gov
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