How to get dedicated IP address details from SparkPost and troubleshoot IP reputation issues?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 7 Jul 2025
Updated 18 Aug 2025
7 min read
For businesses that rely on email for critical communications, maintaining a strong sender reputation is paramount. Dedicated IP addresses are a key component in this, offering more control over your sending reputation compared to shared IPs. However, getting granular details about your dedicated IP's performance, especially when using an email service provider (ESP) like SparkPost through an integration platform, can sometimes be challenging.
IP reputation directly impacts whether your emails land in the inbox or are flagged as spam. When you notice a sudden drop in your IP reputation score, such as a decline from 99 to 70, it signals an urgent need for investigation. This article explores how to obtain dedicated IP address details from SparkPost and outlines effective strategies for troubleshooting common IP reputation issues.
Understanding the data available to you is the first step in diagnosing and resolving deliverability problems, especially when your dedicated IP (or IPs) are at risk of being placed on an email blocklist (or blacklist). Proactive monitoring and quick action are essential to protect your sender reputation.
Accessing SparkPost dedicated IP data
If you are a direct SparkPost customer, you generally have access to detailed reporting within their platform. Their Email Analytics platform is designed to provide visibility into sending IPs, associated domains, and key metrics like complaints and bounces. This level of detail is crucial for diagnosing issues specific to your dedicated IP addresses. Always check the SparkPost deliverability documentation for the most up-to-date methods of accessing this information.
However, if you're using an integration platform, such as Iterable (or similar), which then routes emails through SparkPost, the level of detail available to you might be abstracted or limited by the intermediary platform. In such cases, the integration might not expose all of SparkPost's native reporting features, especially those segmented by IP address. Your first step should be to consult the documentation of your integration platform to see what Iterable (or your specific platform) provides.
If Iterable (or your integration) doesn't offer the specific IP-level complaint and bounce details you need, you might need to reach out to SparkPost's support directly. They may be able to provide custom reports or guide you to an API endpoint that offers the data you're seeking. This is particularly important for understanding the distribution of campaigns across multiple dedicated IP addresses, which can be critical for maintaining dedicated IP reputation with ISPs.
Tips for obtaining SparkPost IP data
Direct users: Navigate to the SparkPost dashboard and explore the Email Analytics or Deliverability sections. Look for reports that can be filtered or segmented by sending IP.
Integrated users: Check your integration platform's reporting features first. If data is limited, contact both the integration platform and SparkPost support to inquire about IP-specific reporting.
API access: If you have developer resources, explore SparkPost's API documentation. Many ESPs offer API endpoints to pull raw or aggregated data, which can then be processed to extract IP-specific metrics.
Troubleshooting dedicated IP reputation drops
A sudden drop in your dedicated IP's reputation score, such as the described fall from 99 to 70, is a serious concern. While Validity's Sender Score is one metric, it's essential to understand that it doesn't always directly correlate with inbox placement across all mailbox providers. Different providers weigh various factors, and some may not consider Sender Score at all. This means you need a holistic approach to troubleshooting. If you're seeing B2B email quarantine issues with new dedicated IPs, this approach is especially important.
Start by examining your sending practices immediately prior to the reputation drop. Have there been any changes in your email volume, content, or recipient list hygiene? Spikes in spam complaints, increased bounce rates (especially hard bounces), or sending to known spam traps can quickly damage an IP's reputation. It’s also crucial to monitor for spikes in user-reported spam rates.
Leverage external tools to gain more insights beyond Sender Score. GooglePostmaster Tools provides IP reputation data specifically for Gmail addresses. Check the IP reputation dashboard there. Another valuable resource is Talos Intelligencewhich offers a volume history for any given IP. This can help you determine if the IP is being used by other entities or experiencing unusual sending patterns not originating from your campaigns. This can shed light on whether you're using a shared IP despite having dedicated IPs.
External reputation tools
Sender Score (Validity): Provides a score from 0-100 based on various metrics. A drop can indicate reputation issues but isn't always indicative of deliverability problems.
Google Postmaster Tools: Offers specific data on Gmail deliverability, including IP reputation, spam rate, and authentication errors.
Talos Intelligence (Cisco): Provides comprehensive reputation data for IPs, including volume history, which can help detect anomalies or shared usage patterns. This is helpful for understanding your email domain reputation.
SparkPost internal data
Complaints by IP: Identify if specific IPs are generating higher complaint rates, indicating issues with list quality or content.
Bounces by IP: Track bounce rates per IP to spot problematic IPs or list segments. High bounce rates can also lead to an IP being added to a blocklist (or blacklist), as explained in what happens when your IP gets blocklisted.
Campaign distribution reports: If you have multiple dedicated IPs, verify that campaigns are distributed as intended to avoid overburdening a single IP.
It's also essential to check if your IP addresses are being spoofed or utilized by other platforms without your knowledge. This is where robust authentication protocols become invaluable.
Leveraging DMARC for IP visibility
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is a crucial email authentication protocol that provides valuable insights into how your domain is being used for email sending. If your main domain's DMARC policy is set to p=reject, this means that recipient mail servers are instructed to reject emails that fail DMARC authentication, preventing unauthorized sending using your domain.
Beyond protection, DMARC also provides aggregate (RUA) reports. These XML reports, sent by recipient mail servers, contain detailed information about all emails sent from your domain, regardless of whether they passed or failed authentication. Crucially, these reports include the sending IP addresses, the volume of mail from each IP, and whether SPF and DKIM authentication passed or failed. This data can directly help you understand and troubleshoot DMARC reports.
By analyzing DMARC reports, you can verify if your SparkPost dedicated IPs are the only ones sending mail on behalf of your domain. If you see other IPs listed in the reports that you don't recognize, it could indicate unauthorized sending or misconfigurations that need to be addressed immediately. This visibility is key to confirming that your dedicated IPs are indeed dedicated to your sending.
Using DMARC for IP verification
Set up DMARC: Ensure your domain has a DMARC record published, ideally with a p=none or p=quarantine policy initially. You can use a free DMARC record generator.
Receive RUA reports: Specify a reporting address in your DMARC record to receive daily aggregate reports from various mailbox providers.
Analyze reports: Tools can help parse these XML reports into human-readable formats, allowing you to see which IPs are sending mail on your behalf.
Move to enforcement: Once confident all legitimate mail is authenticating, gradually move to a p=reject policy to protect your domain's reputation.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Actively use Google Postmaster Tools for IP reputation, especially if you send to Gmail users, as it's a direct signal from Google.
Consistently monitor Talos Intelligence for your dedicated IPs to track volume history and identify any unexpected spikes.
Ensure your DMARC policy is robust, preferably at `p=reject`, to prevent unauthorized sending and gain full visibility into your sending IPs.
Common pitfalls
Relying solely on one reputation metric, like Sender Score, as it may not reflect true inbox placement across all providers.
Assuming dedicated IPs are exclusively used by your campaigns without verifying through DMARC reports or ESP data.
Neglecting to investigate unusual volume patterns on your IPs, which could indicate misuse or misconfiguration.
Expert tips
Focus on the actual deliverability metrics within your ESP and DMARC reports rather than just a single reputation score.
Always cross-reference IP reputation data from multiple sources to identify inconsistencies or confirm trends.
If using an intermediary platform, push for direct access or enhanced reporting from your primary ESP about IP-level data.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that if you notice a drop in IP reputation for a day you're not doing something extraordinary, that could mean that the IP is not being used only by you.
2024-04-24 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that Sender Score is largely becoming a metric that many ESPs are not even tracking anymore, as it doesn't correlate to measurable deliverability impact for most inbox providers.
2024-04-25 - Email Geeks
Maintaining dedicated IP reputation
Proactively managing your dedicated IP addresses and monitoring their reputation is fundamental to successful email deliverability. While obtaining all IP-specific details can sometimes require navigating multiple platforms or reaching out to support, the effort is worthwhile for maintaining a healthy sending reputation. A holistic approach that combines data from your ESP, external reputation tools, and DMARC reports will provide the clearest picture.
Remember, a drop in an IP's reputation score is a call to action. By systematically investigating potential causes, verifying IP usage through DMARC, and adhering to email best practices, you can quickly address issues and ensure your emails continue to reach the inbox. This continuous vigilance is how you recover email domain and IP reputation and maintain long-term success.
SparkPost through an integration platform, can sometimes be challenging.
Iterable (or similar), which then routes emails through 
Validity's Sender Score is one metric, it's essential to understand that it doesn't always directly correlate with inbox placement across all mailbox providers. Different providers weigh various factors, and some may not consider Sender Score at all. This means you need a holistic approach to troubleshooting. If you're seeing B2B email quarantine issues with new dedicated IPs, this approach is especially important.
GooglePostmaster Tools provides IP reputation data specifically for 
Talos Intelligencewhich offers a volume history for any given IP. This can help you determine if the IP is being used by other entities or experiencing unusual sending patterns not originating from your campaigns. This can shed light on whether you're using a shared IP despite having dedicated IPs.
