What is the current status of the Libero.it email service outage and delivery issues?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 4 Jun 2025
Updated 16 Aug 2025
7 min read
Over the past year, Libero.it has experienced significant email service disruptions and ongoing delivery challenges, particularly notable during an outage in late January 2023. This affected not only Libero.it but also its associated service, Virgilio.it, causing widespread frustration for users and a major headache for email senders. Many of us in the email deliverability community closely monitored the situation, seeing its real-time impact.
While major outages like the one that occurred have largely been resolved, the experience highlighted how crucial it is to stay informed about an ISP's status and to understand the underlying factors that can lead to persistent deliverability issues. Even when a service is technically 'up,' there can be subtle problems that hinder your email campaigns. Let's delve into the current status and the lessons learned from these incidents.
Understanding past outages and their impact
The major outage that impacted Libero.it and Virgilio.it users in late January 2023 was a significant event for the Italian email landscape. Reports indicated that their MX (Mail Exchanger) records were not responding to connections, effectively blocking all incoming email traffic. This led to emails being deferred or bounced back to senders, creating a backlog and preventing critical communications from reaching recipients.
Many email service providers (ESPs) and businesses experienced severe delays. Deliveries were significantly hampered, with some messages taking hours, or even days, to eventually reach the inbox, while others simply failed. This kind of widespread disruption underscores the fragile nature of email infrastructure and the domino effect it can have on businesses relying on email for operations, marketing, and customer service.
According to status reports, the issues, while initially announced as resolved, continued to show lingering effects, with services restoring gradually rather than instantly. Mailbox restoration was a continuous process, which meant that even after the primary infrastructure was back online, full functionality and stable delivery might take additional time. This phased recovery can be particularly challenging for senders who need immediate and consistent delivery.
Common delivery challenges with Italian ISPs
Beyond major outages, senders often encounter unique delivery challenges when targeting Italian internet service providers (ISPs) such as Libero.it and Virgilio.it. One recurring issue can be related to RFC compliance. Some older systems or configurations at these ISPs might be less forgiving of minor deviations from email standards (Request for Comments), leading to emails being rejected or delayed even if they appear valid to other mail systems.
Anecdotal evidence from the community has sometimes pointed to specific thresholds or filtering mechanisms that can impact delivery, especially for bulk senders. If your sending volume to these domains suddenly spikes, or if your sender reputation isn't perfectly aligned, you might hit internal limits that result in deferrals or even outright blocks. This isn't necessarily a sign of a widespread outage but rather a characteristic of how these networks manage incoming mail.
Past incidents have shown that these providers might also struggle with spam filtering and managing large volumes of messages, leading to delays or even misclassification of legitimate mail. It is a constant balancing act for them to protect their users while ensuring desired emails land in the inbox.
Best practices for sending to Italian ISPs
Monitor actively: Keep an eye on your email delivery logs for deferrals or bounces specifically from Libero.it and Virgilio.it domains.
Sender reputation: Maintain a strong sender reputation to avoid triggering filters.
List hygiene: Regularly clean your email lists to remove inactive or problematic addresses.
When issues arise with a major email provider like Libero.it, swift monitoring and troubleshooting become paramount. The first step is always to check the official status pages or social media channels of the affected ISP. They usually provide the most up-to-date information on ongoing incidents and estimated resolution times. If information isn't immediately available, observing your own mail logs is critical.
During an outage, you'll typically see a surge in 4xx SMTP error codes, indicating temporary failures or deferrals. These messages signal that the recipient server is temporarily unavailable or cannot accept mail right now. You might also observe 5xx errors if the issue persists or if a specific mailbox is completely unresponsive. It's important to distinguish between a widespread outage and an individual email address problem.
Should you notice continued delivery issues even after an announced resolution, it is prudent to scale back your sending volume to the affected domain(s) until you see consistent success. Pounding an unresponsive server with mail can sometimes worsen the situation or even trigger additional blocking mechanisms. You can refer to our guides on resolving 550 invalid domain errors for more specific troubleshooting.
Common issues
Delayed delivery: Emails stuck in queues, taking hours to days to reach inboxes.
Temporary deferrals: Receiving 4xx SMTP error codes in logs.
Bounces/rejections: Emails are returned with hard bounce messages or 5xx errors.
Spam folder placement: Messages being delivered, but directly to the spam or junk folder.
Effective solutions
Check ISP status: Consult official ISP status pages or social media for current outage information.
Monitor logs: Regularly review your email logs for specific error codes or patterns.
Gradual sending: If issues persist, reduce sending volume to the affected domains and increase it slowly.
Maintaining email deliverability and sender reputation
The long-term solution to avoiding email delivery pitfalls, whether at Libero.it or any other major ISP, lies in consistent attention to your email deliverability practices. Sender reputation is paramount. A strong reputation tells recipient servers that your mail is legitimate and trustworthy. This is built on consistent sending behavior, low complaint rates, and high engagement from your subscribers.
Authentication protocols are the bedrock of good email security and deliverability. Ensuring your DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Sender Policy Framework (SPF), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, & Conformance (DMARC) records are correctly configured signals to recipient servers that your emails are truly from your domain and haven't been tampered with. This is especially vital when dealing with providers that have strict filtering.
Finally, regularly cleaning your mailing lists helps prevent bounces and reduces the chances of hitting spam traps, which can quickly land your IP address or domain on a blacklist (or blocklist). Active list hygiene ensures you're only sending to engaged subscribers, which improves your overall engagement metrics and, consequently, your sender reputation. If you suspect you're on a blocklist, checking your status with a blacklist checker is a good first step.
Conclusion
While major outages at providers like Libero.it can be disruptive, their resolution typically brings services back to a stable state. The key takeaway from these experiences is the enduring importance of robust email deliverability practices. Staying proactive about your sender reputation, ensuring proper email authentication, and maintaining clean mailing lists are not just best practices, they are necessities.
By understanding the nuances of how different ISPs handle incoming mail and having a solid monitoring strategy in place, you can mitigate the impact of future disruptions and ensure your messages consistently reach their intended audience. Vigilance and adaptability are essential in the ever-evolving landscape of email deliverability.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Monitor your email bounce and deferral logs specifically for recipient domains like Libero.it and Virgilio.it to detect issues early.
Implement and verify strong email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for all sending domains.
Segment your email lists and send to engaged subscribers, especially for sensitive regions or ISPs.
Establish a clear communication plan for your audience in case of widespread email outages.
Gradually increase sending volume to an ISP after an outage to avoid triggering further blocks.
Common pitfalls
Continuing to send high volumes of email to an unresponsive ISP, potentially worsening your sender reputation.
Failing to check official ISP status pages or social media during suspected outages, leading to delayed responses.
Not having a fallback communication method for critical messages during widespread email disruptions.
Neglecting list hygiene, which can lead to higher bounce rates and spam complaints even without an outage.
Assuming that an announced 'fix' means immediate, complete restoration of all email services.
Expert tips
Always keep an eye on your sending infrastructure's queue to identify backlogs specific to certain ISPs.
Utilize DMARC reports to gain deeper insights into email delivery and authentication issues at various recipient domains.
Consider setting up alerts for unusual spikes in deferrals or bounces for key domains.
Engage with the email community for real-time updates and shared experiences during outages.
Automate the monitoring of your email deliverability metrics for early detection of problems.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says the Libero.it MX was not responding to connections since January 23rd, and they were looking for updates.
January 25, 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says it was a known issue and recommended checking their login page for announcements.
