Tutorial: Find out if you’re on the RBL

I am listed. Now what do I do?
If your email server is listed on an RBL, chances are that your carefully crafted messages aren’t actually getting through to some of your subscribers. RBL stands for Realtime Blackhole List, a list of IP addresses known to have distributed spam emails. Companies can subscribe to an RBL, then set their mail servers to check all incoming traffic against the IP’s listed and block mail from any of the offenders. Some ISP’s also use the RBL’s as a way of limiting the volume of spam delivered to their customers.

As a digital direct marketer, it’s important to understand the workings the RBL’s, how they affect your business and what do when you’re listed.

What do you mean when I’m listed?
It’s a fact of life. If you’re engaged in email direct marketing, at some point you’re going to have to deal with an RBL. Subscribers forget that they signed up. Or there’s a temporary glitch in your unsubscribe link. Whatever happens, someone reports your IP address and you end up listed. The RBL’s set their own criteria for spam, and they’re much more stringent that the minimum effort required by law in most countries.

HINT: When you’re working with an ASP service, spam sent by ANY of the service’s clients will have all mail from that service blocked. Usually, the service is de-listed quickly simply by suspending the privelages of the offender.

If response rates suddenly drop, that’s a clue to check the RBLs. It’s also a good idea any time you’re looking to change service providers. Or, if you’re mailing through your corporate servers, it should be part of your regular routine. At least once a month for infrequent mailers, more often if you mail regularly.

First, you need to know your IP address.
In simple terms, your IP address is the numerical address that the Internet uses to identify your server. It looks like this: 66.35.204.200. Your IT department should be able to provide you with the IP of an in-house mail server. Or ask your account representative if you’re working with a hosted solution.

You can also look-up an IP address on the web. First, get the domain name of the mail server.

HINT: Most vendors don’t use their corporate domain for their email servers. For example, EmailLabs uses the domain www.uptilt.com and Bluestreak uses the domain www.processrequest.com. One easy way to figure this out is to view the source code of an email message and check the domain portion of your tracked links.

Once you have the domain, you can look-up the IP Address at http://www.canufly.net/~georgegg/dns/ or HCI Data. (Once you have the IP, record it so that you can continue to perform periodic checks.)

Check the RBLs.
There are hundreds of RBLs and it would take forever to check each one manually. Fortunately there are plenty of online services that allow you to check multiple lists at once. Simply visit any of these sites, enter your IP address and click submit. In moments you’ll know whether your server is listed, and where. It’s a good idea to check more than one service, to cover the most possible RBLs.

Check your IP Address at:

I’m listed. Now what do I do?
If you’re mailing through a reputable bulk mail service, contact your vendor. It’s likely that they are already aware and are taking steps to have the IP removed from the blocking list in a matter of days. Keep in touch with them, monitor the RBLs and try to avoid sending mailings until the block is lifted.If you’re mailing through a hosted solution on your own server, the task is going to fall to you. First, you need to contact every RBL that is listing your servers and request to have you IP address removed from the list. You’ll need to prove that you are listed here in error. Each RBL will have slightly different requirements, so it’s a good idea to visit the websites before you call. Most sites contain instructions to have your site de-listed. This process can take some time and you’ll need to deal with each RBL individually. In the interim, any mail originating from the listed server will be blocked by companies and ISP’s using the RBL that’s listing you. That’s right, email from the president isn’t going to get through either if you’re using the corporate mail server. I’ll leave it to you to break that news.

HINT: RBL Japan offers a nice little relay checking service that allows you to test the security of your mail server and ensure you aren’t at risk of being hi-jacked by a spammer. Having an open mail relay is one of the easy ways to get posted to the RBLs, and something you’ll need to correct to have your IP address de-listed.

A final caution.
If you’re actually spamming, you deserve to be listed on the RBL. And to lose your privelages with your ASP vendor. At the end of the day, the easiest way to ensure your email campaigns are delivered is to engage in ethical email marketing - mail only to a permissioned list, unsubscribe people immediately when they request it, and don’t send email to customers who haven’t asked for it!