Keep spam filters from treating you like junk

By Kim Komando

Every day, the computers and T1 lines here at the headquarters of The Kim Komando Show are working overtime. They have a bundle to carry and send.

We send out about 3 million e-mail newsletters per week. There's a fine art to getting it all done.

A big part of it is making sure that your e-mail gets through to your customers. Send out your e-mail wrong and it probably is going to get snagged in a filter or a blacklist. Then it's agony.

Filters have been set up to stem the onslaught of spam. Billions of pieces of junk e-mail go through filtering systems each day. We all hate spam, but we also don't like it when our own permission-based e-mail newsletters land in a spam filter.

There are many ways this can happen. But there are a number of ways to alleviate the problem, too. Let's look at the problem and then some solutions.

Problem No. 1: blacklists

Numerous organizations maintain lists of Web addresses where questionable e-mail has originated. These addresses come from people who have been spammed, or think they have. They send the offending addresses to the blacklist organizations.

The addresses don't automatically get added, in most cases. Most organizations do at least some rudimentary checking to see that the alleged spam address is a true spam site. Spammers often use other people's addresses in the "From" line. Those people could end up on a blacklist if the organization running it isn't careful.

You too could land on a blacklist, no matter how legitimate or ethical your operation is. Let's say you have a newsletter. Joe Customer subscribes his friend Bill to your newsletter. When it arrives, Bill is surprised and angered. He immediately sends a complaint to his Internet service provider. The ISP, in turn, forwards your return address to one or more blacklists. Your name is mud.

Problem No. 2: Filters

Filters are usually part of anti-spam programs. Many derive from SpamAssassin, a program that is free to any filter. Filters look for the characteristics of spam and, well, try to assassinate the spammer's mailings.

It's pretty easy to get snagged in these filters. If you use a lot of UPPER CASE words, you're a candidate. A lot of exclamation marks(!)? Same problem. Writing a newsletter about drugs? It's probably dead. Even the word "unsubscribe" is a problem, since spammers often use an unsubscribe feature to confirm validity of addresses. You didn't think spammers were responsible enough to actually remove you from their lists, did you? ("Remove" is another problem word.)

You might get blocked with just this in the subject or body: VIAGRA!!!!!

Most spam filters work on a point system. One problem shouldn't snag you. But when you pile up a series of problems, you could be blocked.

Some filters tag e-mail as junk and send it to a junk folder, where the subscriber can find it. Some bounce it back to the sender, so you at least know you have a problem. And some send it to a black hole, where it dies. If subscribers tell you they're not getting your product, it's probably going to a black hole. Complain to the ISP. And ask your subscribers to do the same.

What's a body to do?

Occasionally, I find my newsletters being blocked or filtered. My employees and I have become adept at sorting out these problems.

The big boys are pretty easy to deal with. MSN, America Online, Yahoo! and other huge e-mail organizations are very professional. We have had problems with all of them at one time or another. But snafus are uncommon today.

You generally won't be blocked by the big guys. They'll just send you to a junk or bulk folder. Your subscriber may delete you without checking to see what's in the folder. If that happens to you, call the e-mail provider. They'll probably have a number of questions about your e-mail practices. It won't take you long to figure out what is acceptable and what is not. This is a bit of a hassle, but you have to look at it from their standpoint. Spam is a terrific problem for big operators. They're just trying to protect their subscribers.

The itty-bitty Internet service providers are much different. They aren't very responsive. In fact, they often aren't very competent. In some cases, they don't seem to realize they are filtering. We call them and send them e-mail. But getting their attention and getting on their white or good list can be a real struggle. I can't afford to tie up my people, trying to solve a problem that affects just a few subscribers. So I ask the subscribers to call the ISP and complain.

Practice good subscription policies

Do you know what it's called when you send people things they don't want? Spam! So don't do that. If you put somebody on your subscription list, be very sure they really signed up. If you aggravate enough people, you'll end up on a blacklist.

I always include a sign-up address in my newsletters. But that really isn't enough. When I receive a subscription request, no matter from whom, I require a confirmation. So a subscription request is automatically bounced back to the address listed. That person has to hit reply and return it. This isn't foolproof — an autoresponder will send it back, too. But in general, it works well.

You're going to get unsubscribe requests. I always find it hard to believe that someone doesn't want my products. Nonetheless, I unsubscribe them right away. You should, too. Don't keep sending your product, assuming you can win them over. Dump 'em and move on.

When e-mail is bounced back a few times because of a bad address, remove the address from your database. The address isn't going to suddenly become a good one. Most likely, the recipient changed addresses and didn't notify you.

These struggles are not what e-mail promised us. It was going to make mass mailings easy — a frictionless way to communicate with our customers. But that's not the reality. Spam is a terrific problem. Maybe someday, programmers will find a way to bar spam without hurting legitimate businesses. But in the meantime, the best we can hope for is to hold our e-mail problems to a minimum.