Live Chat Software by Kayako |
Knowledgebase: Bulk E-mail Marketing Guidelines
|
AOL Feedback Loops De-Mystified
Posted by Nicky Smith on 08 December 2009 10:34 PM
|
|
http://postmaster-blog.aol.com/2009/12/08/feedback-loops-de-mystified/Feedback Loops De-MystifiedWe get a lot of questions about AOL spam complaints, what they are, what they mean, what they do, etc.AOL's mail system is set up in such a way that members who use the AOL software, webmail, and certain 3rd party mail clients such as Outlook with IMAP can report unwanted mail to AOL by selecting the undesirable mail, and either clicking on the "spam" button, or dragging it to the spam folder. AOL spam complaints are generated by AOL members through explicit user action, and they can only report spam on mail in their inboxes. These reports are never automatically generated by the system without user action. When a member performs this action, it creates a "spam complaint", which sends a copy of the header and body to AOL. If the sending network has IP ownership rights and has set up a feedback loop, a copy will also be sent to them, in a standardized format called "ARF". The sending network can then do different things with the complaint, depending on the circumstances. Bulk senders can:
Corporate mail server admins can use their FBL to spot compromised machines behind their NAT, or unintentional loops created by employee "out of the office" auto-acks. Small mailing list/listserv/groups owners should ensure their recipients have an easy way to opt out of the list included on every email sent, to reduce the number of complaints generated, and can also use their complaints feed to curb abuse of the group. AOL does not have any policy requirements that specify actions to be taken in response to a spam complaint. High amounts of spam complaints could result in action against your IP, so it is in your best interest to ensure you keep your spam complaints to a minimum. That being said, as a sending network, receiving a single spam complaint does not mean that any value judgments have been made about your IP, domain, or brand. It does not mean that your IP(s) will be blocked. It does not mean your mail has been targeted by AOL. It simply means that the person who received the mail reported it to AOL using the "spam" button. It could have been because they truly believe it to be spam. They could be having a bad day and reported all of their inbox as spam out of frustration. They could have done it by accident. We are aware that there will be false positives, and have taken that fact into account, so there is no reason to assume your IP will be blocked for a handful of complaints. However, if you are seeing delivery issues on your whitelisted IP, you should start by taking some action to reduce your spam complaints, and by contacting us to let us know what kind of mail your IP sends. -- Annalivia Ford, AOL Postmaster Team | |
 (231 votes) This article was helpful This article was not helpful |
|
Comments (0)