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Summary

Emails bouncing specifically from Optonline and other similar ISPs result from a complex interplay of factors. These include ISP-specific filtering rules (often stricter for smaller ISPs), poor sender reputation (potentially leading to blacklisting with services like Cloudmark), content that resembles spam, and authentication problems. Investigating bounce codes is crucial, as is monitoring sender reputation and engaging in IP warming. Clean list management and relevant content are also vital. Technically, bounces can stem from SMTP protocol issues, invalid addresses, server policy rejections, or temporary server unavailability. Furthermore, authentication problems with DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, exceeding sending limits, or issues of a sudden increase of bounced emails can have effects.

Key findings

  • ISP Filtering: ISPs, particularly smaller ones, may have stricter filtering rules.
  • Reputation Matters: Sender reputation strongly influences deliverability, with blacklisting as a significant risk.
  • Authentication is Key: Proper email authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential.
  • Content Relevance: Spam-like or irrelevant content can trigger bounces.
  • Bounce Code Analysis: Specific bounce codes from ISPs provide valuable clues for troubleshooting.
  • Cloudmark Influence: Cloudmark's filtering is a key element for many mid-size ISPs.
  • List hygiene matters: Maintain a clean email list to avoid deliverability issues.

Key considerations

  • Analyze ISP Feedback: Carefully analyze rejection messages from ISPs to understand the root cause of bounces.
  • Monitor Reputation: Proactively monitor your sender reputation using available tools.
  • Implement IP Warming: Gradually warm up new IP addresses to establish a positive reputation.
  • Authenticate Your Emails: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly configured.
  • Segment and Target: Send relevant, targeted content to engaged subscribers.
  • Clean Your List Regularly: Remove inactive or invalid addresses to improve deliverability.
  • Check for Blacklisting: Regularly check if your IP or domain is on any blacklists.
  • Address validation: Utilize validation tools to eliminate invalid recipient addresses

What email marketers say

10 marketer opinions

Emails bouncing specifically from Optonline and similar ISPs often stem from a combination of factors, including: stricter filtering rules by smaller ISPs, spam-like content or poor sender reputation leading to blacklisting, compromised sending servers or changes in ISP policies causing sudden bounce rate increases, DNS issues due to incorrect or missing authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and general list hygiene issues. Monitoring sender reputation, investigating specific bounce codes, properly warming up IP addresses, sending relevant content, and maintaining a clean subscriber list are crucial for improving deliverability.

Key opinions

  • Stricter ISP Rules: Smaller ISPs like Optonline may have stricter filtering rules, leading to more bounces.
  • Content & Reputation: Spam-like content, poor sender reputation, or blacklisting can cause bounces.
  • Sudden Increase Indicators: A sudden increase in bounces may indicate a compromised server or policy changes.
  • DNS Authentication Issues: Incorrect or missing SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records can result in rejections.
  • List Hygiene: Poor list hygiene (inactive subscribers) contributes to bounce rates.

Key considerations

  • Monitor Reputation: Actively monitor sender reputation using tools like Sender Score and Google Postmaster Tools.
  • Investigate Bounce Codes: Thoroughly investigate specific bounce codes provided by the ISPs to diagnose the issue.
  • IP Warming: Implement a gradual IP warming strategy to establish a positive reputation.
  • Relevant Content: Ensure your content is relevant and engaging to avoid being marked as spam.
  • Clean Subscriber List: Regularly clean your subscriber list to remove inactive or invalid addresses.
  • Email Authentication: Setup and maintain correct SPF, DKIM, DMARC records in DNS.

Marketer view

Email marketer from ZeroBounce describes sending relevant, engaging content to your subscribers. Emails that are perceived as spam or unwanted are more likely to result in bounces and blocks.

3 Feb 2024 - ZeroBounce

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks confirms they had a similar issue with optonline related to Cloudmark.

13 Apr 2022 - Email Geeks

What the experts say

8 expert opinions

Bounces specifically from Optonline and similar ISPs are frequently tied to reputation issues and filtering practices. Rejection messages from ISPs can offer specific reasons for the bounce. Cloudmark, a reputation provider, is often used by mid-sized ISPs, so a poor Cloudmark reputation can cause delivery problems. eDataSource can provide Cloudmark data. Address validation has little impact on Cloudmark, while user engagement and complaints are more important. Cable provider-specific issues often indicate a targeted response, and DMARC reports are useful for authentication problems. Improper DMARC or other authentication issues, or blacklisting, can cause rejections. Therefore, maintaining good sender reputation is critical to avoiding bounces.

Key opinions

  • ISP Rejection Messages: ISPs usually provide messages explaining the reason for the bounce.
  • Cloudmark Importance: Cloudmark is a key reputation provider for mid-size ISPs.
  • Reputation Factors: User engagement and complaint rates heavily influence reputation, especially regarding Cloudmark.
  • Cable Provider Focus: Issues focused on cable providers suggest a targeted response to something specific in your sending practices.
  • Authentication Significance: Authentication issues (DMARC, SPF, DKIM) or Blacklisting problems can cause bounces.

Key considerations

  • Analyze Rejection Messages: Carefully examine the rejection messages provided by ISPs to understand the reason for bounces.
  • Monitor Cloudmark: Monitor your reputation with Cloudmark, potentially using eDataSource.
  • Improve User Engagement: Focus on improving user engagement and reducing complaint rates.
  • Review Sending Practices: Review your sending practices for any issues that might be causing problems with specific cable providers.
  • Verify Authentication: Ensure that DMARC, SPF, and DKIM are properly configured and functioning.
  • Monitor Blacklists: Check if your IP is on any blacklists.

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks, following up on Kent McGovern's initial suggestion, shares that Cloudmark is a filtering company/reputation provider used by many mid-size ISPs. Poor reputation with Cloudmark can lead to delivery issues at places that use them.

6 Feb 2023 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that if your mail is being rejected by an ISP they'll usually do so with a message that suggests why, often with clear reasons.

26 Oct 2022 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says

4 technical articles

Bounces from Optonline and other ISPs, from a technical perspective, are caused by several factors outlined in email documentation. The SMTP protocol, as detailed in RFC documentation, indicates that bounces arise from invalid recipient addresses, server policy rejections, or temporary server unavailability. Blacklisting, according to Spamhaus documentation, can lead to widespread rejections if an IP is listed. Furthermore, documentation from Google highlights the importance of email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), low complaint rates, and easy unsubscription to improve deliverability. Finally, Microsoft documentation notes that exceeding sending limits or emailing too many invalid recipients can trigger blocks or throttling by ISPs.

Key findings

  • SMTP Protocol Issues: Invalid addresses, policy rejections, or server issues cause bounces at the SMTP level.
  • Blacklist Impact: Being on a blocklist like Spamhaus causes rejections from ISPs using that list.
  • Authentication Importance: Proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial for deliverability.
  • Sending Limits: Exceeding sending limits or emailing invalid recipients can trigger blocks.

Key considerations

  • Address Validation: Ensure the validity of recipient addresses to minimize bounces.
  • Blocklist Monitoring: Regularly check if your IP address is listed on common blocklists.
  • DMARC Configuration: Set up and maintain SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your emails.
  • Sending Volume Management: Monitor and manage your sending volume to avoid exceeding ISP limits.
  • Complaint Rate: Keep complaint rates low as this affects deliverability.
  • Easy Unsubscribe: Make sure that recipients can easily unsubscribe from emails.

Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor details the underlying SMTP protocol which dictates that bounces occur due to issues like invalid recipient addresses, policy rejections by the receiving server, or temporary unavailability of the server. Specific error codes provide further detail.

4 Feb 2025 - RFC Editor

Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft details if you exceed your sending limits or send emails to too many invalid recipients, ISPs might block or throttle your emails.

3 Mar 2023 - Microsoft

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