Spam Rating

Why is my Message detected as Spam and how can I avoid it

 

MailList Controller sends email messages in the same format as your regular email client does. The message format, message encoding or the mailer itself is not the problem. In most cases the content of the message or the email account is the reason why a newsletter message gets detected as spam.

 

Message Content and Subject:

  • Avoid typical spam terms like "business offer"
  • Include a plain-text part(!) when sending out HTML messages
  • Avoid inline images with only a few words of text
  • Make sure that the links/domains inside the email are not blacklisted

 

Check the Email Address (List Email Address) and Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP Server)

  • Make sure the specified list email address belongs to the outgoing messages (SMTP) server!
    This issue is very important - if the sender email is from a different provider, then you will be blocked by most anti-spam filters or the message will be rejected by the outgoing mail server.
  • Today many mail server support the Sender Policy Framework (SPF), as defined in RFC 4408 or use the DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) for associating a domain name to an email. See also: How to Read and Analyze the Email Header Fields of a Message

 

Its also recommended to send a test message to a spam-protected email account and/or a webmail (e.g. freemail) account to verify the spam rating of the message. Important: Send out your newsletter email messages to subscribers only and allow them to unsubscribe!

 

Common Issues:

The header often contains details about the spam-rating:
e.g.

1.1 MPART_ALT_DIFF BODY: HTML and text parts are different
Include a plain-text part to your HTML message. (use the "Extract ..." function)

1.2 TVD_FW_GRAPHIC_NAME_MID BODY: TVD_FW_GRAPHIC_NAME_MID
Rename the inline image e.g. use 1.gif instead of header.gif

1.4 SARE_GIF_ATTACH FULL: Email has a inline gif
Use a different format e.g. PNG instead of the GIF image.

0.8 HTML_TITLE_SUBJ_DIFF HTML_TITLE_SUBJ_DIFF
Replace the title tag in the html sourcecode. (remove <title> ... </title>)

1.3 MISSING_SUBJECT Missing Subject: header
Add a subject to your message

1.7 SARE_GIF_STOX Inline Gif with little HTML
Add more text/html content or replace/remove image.

0.6 HTML_IMAGE_RATIO_02 BODY: HTML has a low ratio of text to image area
2.5 HTML_IMAGE_ONLY_16 BODY: HTML: images with 1200-1600 bytes of words
Add more text/html content or remove image.

1.6 MY_CID_AND_CLOSING SARE cid and closing
1.5 MY_CID_AND_STYLE SARE cid and style
1.6 MY_CID_ARIAL2_CLOSING SARE cid arial2 closing
1.6 MY_CID_ARIAL_STYLE SARE cid arial2 style
1.5 MY_CID_AND_ARIAL2 SARE CID and Arial2
Remove style/font tags (<div>,</div>,<font>,</font>) before and after the <img ...> tag. If its not possible try to change the font e.g. use MS Sans Serif instead of Arial.

 

See also: How to Read and Analyze the Email Header Fields of a Message