I never meant to say that Al was wrong on anything, just that the conversation was focused on something other than where I was going.
----- Mike Hammett Intelligent Computing Solutions Midwest Internet Exchange The Brothers WISP ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. via mailop" <mailop@mailop.org> To: "Mail Op" <mailop@mailop.org> Sent: Monday, July 7, 2025 12:05:14 PM Subject: Re: [mailop] Mail Monitoring Service > On Jul 7, 2025, at 8:28 AM, Al Iverson via mailop <mailop@mailop.org> wrote: > > You've misidentified where the long tail is. Most people who reach out > to me because they're having deliverability issues and who want > advice, especially because of spam folder placement, it's because of > reputation issues measured by internal black box systems at Microsoft, > Google, Yahoo and Apple. Not externally queryable, nor determinable by > reading headers. I literally could roll a die to guess what they're > going to say, and I'd be right a lot more than half the time. "But I > enabled DMARC!" "But it's passing DKIM!" "But I'm not on a blocklist!" > Yeah, true, but.... > > Too many people think they have to be on a blocklist to have a > deliverability issue. (This isn't 1999.) > Too many people misunderstand the point of email authentication, > believing that it somehow guarantees inbox placement. (No, it's the > flip side that is true. Try to get inbox placement WITHOUT it -- it's > very hard. But with it properly set, it doesn't protect you from > reputation/engagement/complaint-related issues.) > Even real IP reputation issues are often confused; the sender thinks > that because their IP address is on UCE Protect Level 3 AND they're > facing blocking at Microsoft, that these things must be connected. > (They're not.) 99% of blocklists are barely used. > > In short, it just don't work that way. Just here to say...to paraphrase from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: "Listen to this dude Al, he knows what he's talking about." Also, from his subsequent email: Al Iverson wrote: > (Spoiler alert, the IP's not on a blocklist and I know how to do all the > header things properly.) This almost made me spit my coffee out because I had to laugh at how much of an understatement that is. Al, saying you know how to do the things properly is like...d*mn I can't even think of a good analogy as it's just so fundamental to who you are and your expertise... maybe it's like Dr. Kellogg saying that he knows the ingredients for corn flakes, or Henry Ford saying he knows he needs to put gas in the car. Anyone who argues about any aspect of deliverability with Al is, well, just wrong. Anne -- Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. Email Law & Policy Attorney Legislative Advisor Author: Section 6 of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (the Federal email marketing law) Originator of the term 'deliverability' CEO Institute for Social Internet Public Policy Board of Directors, Denver Internet Exchange Dean Emeritus, Cyberlaw & Cybersecurity, Lincoln Law School Counsel Emeritus, eMail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) _______________________________________________ mailop mailing list mailop@mailop.org https://list.mailop.org/listinfo/mailop _______________________________________________ mailop mailing list mailop@mailop.org https://list.mailop.org/listinfo/mailop
