Someone referred to me recently as an "email deliverability veteran", and my daughter pointed out the other day that I have just passed half way to 90. I'm not sure how to feel about all of this - but something I do feel very strongly about is communication about blacklists, or the lack thereof.

In the early days of email marketing, conversations (which are still relevant today) revolved around the differences between "spam" (unsolicited email) and "ham" (solicited email). While we'll probably never reach an agreement on the correct definition of these menu items, one of the most poignant methods of deciding what to eat is blacklists.

Blacklists and blacklist operators are individuals and organizations (both small and large) that coordinate proprietary lists of IP addresses or domains that are perceived to be sources of spam. Some of these spam fighters are commercial entities, and some are simply volunteers who conduct their spam fighting activities in their spare time.

Now let me state on the record that I fully support any activity that helps make the Internet a safer place for us all, and blacklists do have their merits in our email ecosystem. As permission based email marketers, over the years we have spent an enormous amount of time, energy and financial resources to support all spam fighting efforts, and many email service providers (ESPs) have large teams on staff to combat spam.

But what I want to ask blacklist operators is: where’s the communication?

In the spirit of the Internet’s independence surely it’s time for all (not just some) blacklist operators that can affect service to email clients to accept some reasonable level of communicative interaction. Some blacklist operators are better than others, but I am of the opinion that we can all communicate on the subject better.  Problems and issues would get solved quicker by all parties coming together and getting the bad apples out of the fruit salad sooner rather than later.

So enough of my grumpiness; as an email veteran who is closer to 90 than 45, I welcome your input.

Cheers

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About the Author

David Fowler is the director of email strategy, deliverability and privacy compliance for Lyris. He consults with email marketers to help them get better results from their email programs.

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