Getting blacklisted is every email sender’s worst nightmare. It’s like being sent to spam jail, where no one, not even your most loyal subscribers, can reach you. If you’ve ever found yourself in this position, you know how stressful it can be. Your emails are no longer reaching their intended destination, and no one’s happy about it. This blog will show you how to get off email blacklist, fix email reputation and regain your position as a trusted sender. You’ll learn how to reverse the blacklisting process, so you can stop worrying about email deliverability and get back to business.  Maintaining a strong sender reputation will be your new routine, ensuring every vital email reaches the inbox and preventing future blacklisting issues.

Inframail’s email infrastructure will help you achieve your email goals by improving your sender reputation and preventing future blacklisting problems.

Table of Contents

• What are Email Blacklists?

• Who Influences The Email Blacklist?

• How to Get Off Email Blacklist

• Best Practices to Avoid Blacklisting in the Future

• Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today

What are Email Blacklists?

Email blacklists are databases that track and block IP addresses or domains associated with spam or malicious activity. An email blacklist, also known as DNSBL (Domain Name System-based Blackhole List) or RBL (Real-time Blackhole List) is an extensive list of public domains and IP addresses that are marked to be suspicious for sending spam emails over the internet. Entities like ESPs (Email Service Providers), ISPs (Internet Service Providers), and ASA (Anti-spam agencies) refer to this list to detect and block any spam emails from entering their network. There are over 300 known email blacklists that anyone can access - some of them have a more significant impact than others on email deliverability.

Who Uses Email Blacklists?

DNSBL, or email blacklist, is not a single centralised list on the internet. Many anti-spam organisations are maintaining their independent DNSBL lists. Some lists are free to use, while a few require commercial licenses.

What are the Types of Email Blacklist Services?

There are two kinds of Email Blacklist Services:

Third-party email blacklist services

Are independent organisations that provide blacklists as a service to email clients such as:

• Gmail

• Yahoo

• Email delivery services

• Spam engines, etc

These are widely available and open for the public to check their listings manually for free.

Internal email blacklist service

Although Gmail, Yahoo might use these third-party services to check to blacklist, they also have their filters to update their version of blacklists. These internal blacklists are not so much as open to the public users to use without any verification.

What are the Email Blacklist Categories?

An email blacklist is divided into two categories depending on the spamming source.

IP Blacklist

Every server has an IP address that defines its location on the internet. The public IP addresses of the servers that are known to send spam emails are infected with botnets or acting as an open relay and are added to the IP blacklist. If a user sends spam emails from their private IP address continuously, their IP addresses can be blacklisted too. 

Domain Blacklist

Every email you send has a domain associated with it, called the email-sending domain. If the email contains any spam elements (such as spammy words or suspicious links) or is reported several times as spam by email recipients, such email-sending domain is blacklisted. The sending domain can be seen in the From-address, Return-address, and DKIM signing domain.

Note: Apart from the spam issues, email recipients can also blacklist any “no-reply email domain.” This happens when brands send marketing emails from a no-reply address without the recipient’s permission. The emails sent by the domains that are considered spam, based on the sending habits and history of emailing, are added to the email blacklist.

What Happens When You Get Blacklisted?

The process of permanently removing your email from a blacklist involves more than simply requesting removal and having your email delisted. Attempting such an action without a comprehensive strategy can lead to re-listing, making subsequent removal even more challenging. Understand the root causes to address and resolve email blacklisting issues. Also, identify the key authorities, entities, and influencers responsible for listing your domain or IP address on a blacklist.

Related Reading

• Blacklist Removal
• IP Address Reputation
• Blacklisted Email

Who Influences The Email Blacklist?

Blacklists are maintained by several stakeholders, including:

• Internet service providers (ISPs)

• Mail service providers (MSPs)

• Anti-spam organizations

• Even the recipients of your emails

Each of these groups plays a critical role in identifying spammers, monitoring what constitutes spam-like behavior, and determining how to penalize offenders.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Mail Service Providers (MSPs)

When you send an email, it travels across the internet until it reaches the recipient's mail server. If a spam filter operates on that server, there’s a chance your email will get caught in the filter’s net. ISPs and MSPs are the two groups that manage these email servers. ISPs like Verizon and Comcast deliver Internet access to end users. MSPs, including Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook, help users manage their email accounts. Both ISPs and MSPs have internal blacklists to help them filter out spam. When you send an email to a recipient with a spam filter, that filter checks your IP address against the blacklist. The email may be rejected outright or sent to the spam folder if there's a match.

The Email Recipient

Email recipients also influence the blacklisting of sender domains and IP addresses, albeit passively. Most MSPs offer a "Report as Spam" button that functions like an open poll. When enough users flag an email as spam, there’s a likelihood the sender’s domain will be added to a blacklist. This mechanism underscores the importance of adhering to best email practices and delivering content that resonates positively with recipients.

Spam Traps: The Email Blacklist Killer

Spam traps are email addresses owned and monitored by anti-spam organizations. These organizations strategically disseminate these trap email addresses across the Internet to monitor unsolicited email activity. It’s important to note that many harvested or third-party email lists inadvertently contain a few of these spam trap email addresses. Engaging with even a single spam trap can have immediate repercussions, potentially resulting in real-time blacklisting of your sender domain and IP address. Exercise utmost caution and adhere to email best practices to safeguard your email sender reputation. Spam traps are mainly grouped into two categories.

Classic Spam Traps

These are traditional or longstanding spam trap email addresses used by anti-spam agencies and service providers to identify and combat unsolicited and potentially malicious email activity.

Recycled Spam Traps

These email addresses were once legitimate, but their original users abandoned them, and anti-spam organizations repurposed them as spam traps. When marketers continue to send emails to these recycled spam traps, it can lead to email blacklisting or damage the sender reputation.

A Sudden Increase in Email Volume

Rapidly escalating email volumes can serve as a red flag, indicating the use of bulk email lists procured from external sources. The logic is natural: How is it possible to gather such an extensive subscriber base overnight? In today’s landscape, the email marketing industry exercises a significant degree of control over email blacklisting. By employing DNSBL services and applying their stringent blacklisting criteria, they encourage best practices.

What Happens Once Your Domain or IP is Blacklisted?

If your domain or IP gets blacklisted, it doesn’t mean all email communication comes to a halt until you’re delisted. The answer hinges on a complex interplay involving:

• MSPs

• ISPs

• Internet mailing services

It needs a closer look at how these entities engage with DNSBL and handle emails originating from blacklisted domains and IPs.

How DNSBL Works with the MSP and ISP

Every MSP and ISP employs one or more DNSBL services to detect and categorize blacklisted emails. These services can be configured locally within their infrastructure or accessed remotely through a connection.

DNSBL Helps Block Spam at the MX Server Level

Regardless of the setup, the DNSBL service uses the local DNS server to perform domain-to-IP mapping, effectively identifying and categorizing incoming emails. This empowers MSPs to proactively intercept incoming spam at the Mail Exchange (MX) server entry level. By doing so, they safeguard the integrity of their entire email infrastructure and protect recipients’ mailboxes from being inundated with spam. The MX server promptly rejects these unwanted emails and issues a bounce-back message to the sender’s address based on the server’s predefined policies.

What Are the Email Policies?

Each ISP and MSP operating on the Internet implements proprietary algorithms to manage email spam. It’s important to note that encountering delivery issues with one MSP, such as Gmail.com, does not necessarily imply the same challenges will arise with another, like Yahoo.com. Some providers promptly blacklist the sender and begin discarding the email, specifying a particular bounce reason code. In contrast, others opt not to blacklist but instead employ a bounce code to reject the email.

Handle Email Bounces for Better Deliverability

It’s critical to act on incoming bounce notifications in real time. Different bounce reasons require different levels of effort to resolve:

• If the bounce is due to blacklisting, then you might have to suspend your email program and re-examine the email list and what you were sending

• If the bounce is around email throttling, you must slow down your email sending volume

• If the bounce code is tagged as hard, you should immediately remove the associated email address from your list as it’s invalid.

MSPs and ISPs believe in fighting spam together and are open to sharing reasons for bounces. If you do not take immediate action on these bounces, you are not compliant with the email sending guidelines.

What Happens Once Your Domain or IP is Blacklisted?

The sender IP is matched against the blacklist, and different actions are performed based on the response and policies:

• Message is rejected and bounced back to the sender address with notification

• The message is accepted to be sent to the inbox

• The policies for email filtration depend upon the respective ISPs

How ISPs Use Their Internal Email Blacklist

Every ESP, including Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook, has a domain reputation list that would mark you as a good or bad sender. This is based on your email activity and sending domain reputation.

Check & Manage Your Email Domain Reputation

For example, Gmail provides a tool called Google-Postmaster for checking the domain reputation. Based on the reputation, the action on the received email (sent to the inbox or spam) is decided by the Gmail ESP. Other ISPs too have their reputation list and blacklist, but you will only get notifications regarding emails being dropped as warnings. Their reputation lists are not accessible to the public now, but you can expect them shortly. 

Avoid ISP Blacklists & Ensure Email Deliverability

Getting on an ISP’s blacklist can be a bigger problem than ending up on third-party lists. This is because ISPs have strict spam-filtering rules. Primary email services like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook reach many people worldwide, so following their rules is crucial to ensure your emails get to the inbox. When you are blacklisted by any email blacklisting service or a ESP you will receive a notification through an email or bounce alert email to your return address. If you’re not receiving messages, watch for subtle signs that might indicate you’re blacklisted.

What Are Some of the Signs of Being Blacklisted?

If you are blacklisted, you won’t be able to send emails to the recipient’s mailbox. It will usually be dropped at the recipient’s MX server, and a bounce code will be returned. But does that mean you will be blacklisted from every mail server? No. Even if you are blacklisted on a particular DNSBL service, there are hundreds of other email blacklists on the internet.

Non-delivery of your email depends upon whether the recipient’s server is referring to that particular DNSBL that blacklisted you. MSPs can have email filtering mechanisms other than blacklists to filter out spam emails. For example, few MSPs consider your previously sent emails and their engagement as the key parameter to classify or reclassify if your domain/IP is blacklisted. Here are some instances that showcase that your domain or IP might be blacklisted:

• Increasing dropped emails

• Deteriorating delivery rates

Once you notice these signs, you can go ahead and check if your domain and IP is blacklisted. At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. 

The main benefits of using our service:

• Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup

• Dedicated email servers for each user

• 16-hour priority support daily

Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, InfraMail provides a robust email infrastructure without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.

Related Reading

• How to Improve IP Reputation
• Google Blacklist Removal
• Blacklist Removal Tool

How to Get Off Email Blacklist

To fix an issue, you first need to understand what caused it. Thus, the first step you should take is to identify the email blacklist that listed you and find out why.

Identifying the Blacklists

As we have already mentioned in detail, you first need to do an email blacklist lookup and find out the email blacklist(s) that are affecting your email deliverability. There are unique checkers that you can use to see if an IP address or domain is on a blacklist. Some popular blacklist checkers include:

• MxToolbox

• DNSBL.info

• DNS Checker

• Sitechecker

• Site24x7

• BlacklistMaster

To use these tools, simply enter your IP address or domain name into the search field and click “Blacklist Check”. Analyze your domain/IP status. A green checkmark means that your server is not detected in the list:

Assess the Severity

Determine whether it’s a single blacklist or multiple ones. The severity of the blacklisting will affect the steps you need to take for removal.

Understanding the Reason For Email Blacklisting

Once you have identified the blacklists, it’s crucial to understand why your email was blacklisted. Now the reason behind getting blacklisted can be technical or compliance-based. Some of the common reasons include:

• A sudden surge in email sending volume occurs

• High spam complaint rates

• Poor email list hygiene & sender reputation

• Bad and spam-like content

• Suspected malware

Assess and Address the Root Cause

Before going for delisting make sure you have addressed and solved the root cause of getting blacklisted. Simply requesting delisting without resolving the underlying issues that led to the blacklisting can result in repeated blacklisting in the future. Here’s what you should do before requesting delisting:

Review Sending Practices

Evaluate your email-sending practices and ensure compliance with anti-spam regulations. Consider factors such as the source of your email addresses, permission-based marketing, and frequency of email campaigns.

Analyze Content Quality

Examine the content of your emails to ensure it is relevant and valuable and doesn’t contain suspicious or malicious elements that could trigger spam filters.

Enhance Email Authentication

Implement email authentication protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) to authenticate your emails and demonstrate sender legitimacy.

Review Infrastructure and Security

Assess your email infrastructure and security measures to ensure they are robust and protected against potential compromises or abuse.

Check Recipient Engagement

Assess the engagement levels of your recipients, including open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaint rates. Low engagement can indicate issues with your email campaigns or content that may lead to blacklisting.

Monitor Feedback Loops

Implement feedback loops ISPs provide to receive notifications when recipients mark their emails as spam. This helps you identify problematic campaigns or recipients uninterested in your emails.

Requesting Delisting

Comes the process of delisting. Each Email Blacklist has a different set of rules and methods. While some of them require a request for delisting some of the blacklists remove your domain automatically after a certain period.

Finding the Delisting Process for Each Blacklist

Submitting Delisting Requests with Relevant Information

When submitting a delisting request, ensure you provide all the necessary information requested by the blacklist vendor. This may include your IP address, domain name, evidence of corrective actions taken, and any additional details required.

Monitoring & Following Up On The Delisting Request

After submitting the delisting request, monitor the progress and check your email deliverability regularly to see if your emails are still blocked or marked as spam. Delisting processes can take time, so be patient and allow the blacklist vendors to review your request. Follow their guidelines for any additional steps or actions they may require from you.  

Get Off & Stay Off Email Blacklists

Follow up with the email blacklist vendor in case the expected waiting time increases. It might take some time but by following the proper steps you will be able to get yourself off email blacklists. Once you are off an email blacklist make sure you do not make the same mistakes again to avoid getting blacklisted again, else repeated blacklisting can be hard to deal with.  

Best Practices to Avoid Blacklisting in the Future

One of the most common reasons why businesses get blacklisted is because they purchase or rent recipient lists. This is a massive no-no in email marketing, as it almost always guarantees that you will end up on a blacklist.

Build a Safe & Organic Email List

When you purchase or rent a list, you have no idea who those email addresses belong to or whether the owners of these emails would want to receive your emails. This often leads to a high number of spam complaints, which is something that blacklist providers take very seriously. So it’s better to build an organic email list on your own. It’s slower, but much safer that way. Some of the most common list-building techniques include lead magnets and exit-intent pop-ups. A lead magnet can be a compelling offer that your website visitors cannot resist.

Capture Emails with Exclusive Offers & Exit Pop-ups

It can be an exclusive discount, a giveaway, a free limited subscription, or a piece of content. In exchange for your offer, your audience can give you their email address. Exit-intent pop-ups, on the other hand, can help you capture the email addresses of users already leaving your website. Right before they do, your pop-up can make them stay longer. When designed well, your exit-intent pop-up can pique your visitors’ curiosity and make them reconsider your offer.

Monitor Recipient Engagement to Protect Your Sender Reputation

If you’re not monitoring how recipients interact with your emails, you could be unintentionally harming your sender domain reputation. When your emails are not being opened, it signals to email service providers that your subscribers don’t find your emails interesting or relevant. They may eventually mark you as a spammer, leading your emails to the spam folder. Track key metrics like open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribes, and email bounces. This data will give you a good idea of how engaged your subscribers are and whether or not they’re interested in the content you’re sending.

Use Active Opt-Ins for Better Email List Hygiene

Using single opt-in can be faster when you want to collect email addresses, but it can be risky. When you don’t require a confirmation or an additional step before an email is added to your list, you might end up with fake emails or mistyped email addresses, which can cause your future emails to bounce. This will hurt your deliverability and harm your reputation. When you apply an active opt-in process (also called double opt-in), people must take an extra step to confirm their subscription before being added to your list. With double opt-in, you can be sure only those who want to be on your list are on it. This will reduce the chances of getting complaints or marking your emails as spam.

Remove Inactive Subscribers to Keep Your Email List Healthy

Keep an eye on the hygiene of the email list. Subscribers may lose interest in your newsletters – this is normal. If you see that some audience members do not engage with your emails or do not open them at all, conduct a campaign to re-engage them.

Boost Email Deliverability with Unsubscribe Links

Never forget to include an unsubscribe URL in your marketing emails so that people can opt out of your list if they want to. Those users who continue not to open your newsletters should be removed from your list. Otherwise, they may eventually hurt your email deliverability. When a significant fraction of your audience continually skips my emails or deletes them right away, email service providers might think that your emails are irrelevant and decide to block them in the future.

Avoid Linking to Disreputable Websites in Your Emails

Regarding blocking issues, the most essential features of your emails are links. Linking to pages outside your domain or using a link shortener (practices commonly done by spammers) can be a red flag to security providers, which could lead to blacklisting.

Protect Your Server from Malicious Software and Bots

You must have security measures to protect your email server and domain. There are bots and malware out there that can try to hijack your domain. These programs send fake emails that can get you blacklisted, even if you follow only ethical email practices. To avoid this, you should update your email server’s security to protect against these harmful bots and software. This way, you shouldn’t have blacklist emails impacting your email marketing efforts.

Real-Time Email Verification Tools Maintain a Positive Sender Reputation

The real-time email verification process is a crucial shield that ensures your messages reach the intended audience and maintain a positive sender reputation. It also helps you avoid spam form submissions and invalid or outdated email addresses in your system. This proactive step helps to lower bounce rates, as your emails reach valid recipients, and reduces the likelihood of spam complaints. Hence, by ensuring the integrity of your email list through real-time email validation tools like Clearout.io, you protect your sender reputation, enhance deliverability, and ultimately prevent your emails from being blacklisted.

Use Email Testing Tools to Keep Your Emails Off Blacklists

Finally, you can use email testing tools to keep your email list healthy and avoid email blacklists: Email deliverability checkers test SPF and DKIM records to identify and fix errors. They help authenticate your emails, which improves your chances of reaching the recipients’ inboxes and avoiding spam filters and blacklists.

Email Optimization Tools

Email validation tools check if email addresses are correct and active. They also spot addresses that might cause delivery problems. Email subject line testers help you create compelling and engaging subject lines. They also check for potential issues that can trigger spam filters. Those tests help to optimize your email content before sending your messages. This, in turn, ensures my emails look professional and effective, reducing the chances of them being marked as spam and ending up on the blacklist.  

Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today

Inframail is a cold email tool that provides a smooth sending experience and high deliverability. We’re revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently.

How Can Inframail Improve Email Deliverability?

Inframail can improve your email deliverability by providing an automated technical setup for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protocols help verify your identity to mailbox providers. When you send an email, it gets checked against these protocols, and if you fail, your emails are much more likely to end up in the spam folder. With Inframail's automated setup, you don't have to worry about this technical configuration. We take care of it so you can focus on reaching more prospects. Inframail's 16-hour support also helps ensure you can resolve any issues quickly.

Related Reading

• Microsoft Blacklist
• Remove Domain from Blacklist
• Check if Email Is on Blacklist