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:
- remove complainants from their mailing lists in order to help manage their IP reputation.
- use complaints to identify clients who generate the highest volume, and work with them on their acquisition and retention practices.
- work on better branding, better subject lines, different content, and then test and see if people respond better.
- monitor incoming complaints live, spot a problem mailing as it is happening, and stop it before it causes more damage.
- use their FBL to identify spamming/compromised accounts.
- monitor their incoming complaint feed to pinpoint virus outbreaks, botnets, etc.
- locate customers that are using their IPs as mail servers against the network TOS.
- ignore complaints about mail from Grandma as false positives.
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
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1. Having recently registered our three SMTP servers for FBL, I now note in your blog that you are referring to 'sending network' without mentioning 'servers'. It's tricky stuff this. Does the domain have a reputation or the network - or a single client computer? As we have two domains co-existing on the same network (two SMTP servers) I suppose I have to think in terms of the network rather than the domain! Thanks for a very good, plain-English explanation.
I try to be good, honest!
Posted at 5:01AM on Dec 16th 2009 by Jim Nicholson
2. Yes, I have to delete a lot of spam letters from my email box fromtime to time. Sometimes, this work becomes very tiresome as it often takes some time. I cannot understand what is the sense of spamming. I read one article at pdf SE http://www.pdfok.com , so according to statistics, if the person sees that it is spam 99% of people delete it without giving it a look at it. So
Posted at 9:56AM on Sep 12th 2010 by sandok
3. Interesting. But what is the difference between AOL's mail system and any other. I think google's gmail works in the sameway. What are the paculiarities?
Best regards from Mike http://www.mp3hounddog.com
Posted at 6:46AM on Oct 25th 2010 by Mary Brown
4. The idea of the study is to understand how the brain and body interact with the environment and break down the process of automatic behavior. “If I want to pick up my coffee cup, I have a goal in mind that leads http://paraorkut9.org/ me to look at it, leads my arm to reach toward it and drink it,” he said. “This involves a kind of feedback loop. We want to look at more complex actions than that.
Posted at 8:19AM on Feb 16th 2011 by jenny
5. You need to really think about steering this site into a major player in this market. You obviously have a good understanding of the topics everyone is browsing for on this website anyways and you could potentially even make a buck or three from some offers. I would look into following recent headlines and increasing the number of articles you put up and I guarantee you’d begin getting some awesome traffic soon. Just a brainstorm, good luck regardless!
skin tag remover
Posted at 3:28AM on Jul 5th 2011 by Nineveh Nebuchadnezzar