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(Article Updated - August 2024) Overview A blocklist is a database of IP addresses or domains that have been associated with the sending of unsolicited commercial email or spam. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and business email networks use information from blocklists to filter out unwanted email. As a result there can be a drop to inbox delivery rates if the IPs or domains involved with sending email are listed on a blocklist. Marketo’s Email Delivery and Compliance team monitors blocklist activity on our IPs and domains daily. When an impactful listing occurs, we reach out to the blocklist, attempt to identify the sender that triggered it, and work with the blocklist organization to get the listing resolved. There are thousands of blocklists, most will not have a significant impact on your delivery rates. Below, we have compiled a list of the blocklists that commonly appear across our sender ecosystem. Each blocklist has been grouped into a top tier (Tier I) by most impactful, to the bottom least impactful tier (Tier III). These may have little to no impact across our sender network. Tier I Blocklist Spamhaus (SBL) Impact: Spamhaus is the only blocklist that we categorize as a Tier I for a reason: it has by far the greatest impact on delivery. It is the most well-respected and widely used blocklist in the world. A listing at Spamhaus will have a negative effect on your ability to deliver emails to your customer’s inbox and can cause bounce rates of over 50%. Evidence suggests that most of the top North American ISPs use Spamhaus to inform blocking decisions. How it works: Unlike many blocklists, Spamhaus lists senders manually. This means they are proactively watching sender activity, collecting data, and base listings on a number of variables. Most commonly senders are listed for mailing to spam trap addresses that Spamhaus owns. Sometimes Spamhaus will list senders based on recipient feedback as well. Next Steps: Please note that every Spamhaus email can be quite different depending on the information provided and the nature of the listing . Because Spamhaus has multiple types of listings, the remediation steps are based on which type of blocklisting has occurred. We have listed the most common types to affect Marketo customers, from most to least impactful. Impact can range from a full block of top severity, to a partial block that is less severe (CSS Data, DBL). If remediation isn’t performed and the problem not addressed, these listings can increase in severity and turn into a full blocklisting. Spamhaus Blocklistings Types SBL (full blocklisting) Considered the most impactful. Remediation steps: Our team monitors closely for Spamhaus listings. Once alerted to the listing, we send an email notifying the customer, and reach out to the Spamhaus contact to start the remediation process. Only a Marketo delivery team member should be in direct correspondence with the Spamhaus contact, to speak on behalf of the customer, and to relay their questions and instructions, ensuring quick resolution and reduced impact. Senders that trigger this listing on a shared IP range will be moved to a more isolated, penalty range (IPB), so as not to impact the other shared senders. Those affected on a Dedicated IP, only impact their own sending and will not be moved. However, depending on the severity of the issue, our team may need to revoke a customer’s ability to send any emails until full resolution. The listing will last until Spamhaus is satisfied that the offending sender has taken the appropriate steps to mitigate the problem. SBL CSS Customers are alerted of the listing with an email containing all the information needed to immediately begin the remediation process. This is part of an automated trigger listing, that allows for a customer to delist directly on the Spamhaus website, after they’ve completed remediation. Remediation steps: Customers will go to the Spamhaus IP lookup website, at https://check.spamhaus.org, where they can check on the status of their IP and continue to monitor it in real time, until it is no longer listed there. Follow the remediation and delisting instructions provided, and check for specific details in the blocklist notification email. DBL (Domain blocklisting) Customers will receive an email notification alerting of the company domain being listed. The email will contain specific information to help narrow down and identify which email source likely triggered it within Marketo. It’s important to note that any email sent from outside of Marketo, that contained the company domain, is suspect. This means, if the sender uses multiple IPs and/multiple email platforms, then any of those could be the source. Remediation steps: Follow the detailed instructions in the email, which will also provide a link to the Spamhaus Domain reputation checker webpage, to check the real time listing status of the affected domain. Once the email source is identified and cause addressed, this customer will follow the online instructions to request to be delisted. Tier II Blocklist SpamCop Impact: SpamCop is not used by any of the major North American ISPs to inform blocking decisions, but it makes it to the Tier II list because it can have a significant impact on B2B email campaigns. SpamCop is considered a Tier I one blocklist for B2B marketers but a Tier II for B2C marketers. SpamCop is a dynamic IP blocklist, that can affect a single IP or a subset of IPs Typically, the block will automatically lift within one business day, but can take longer for relisted IPs. To have triggered a SpamCop listing likely means the sender has a list management problem that should be addressed. How it works: SpamCop lists IPs for one of two reasons: Either the email hit SpamCop spam trap addresses OR A SpamCop user has reported the email unwanted. Most of SpamCop’s spam traps are previously valid addresses that have not been active for 12 months or longer. Remediation steps: If you are seeing a significant number of bouncing emails caused by a SpamCop blocked IP but aren’t sure if your email activity triggered the listing, first identify whether you are sending on a shared sender network or not. If sending from a shared IP range when this occurs, you or any other customer sending from the same network may have contributed to the IP block. This IP block will automatically get dropped within a business day. For those on a Dedicated IP that trigger a listing, refer to the above remediation steps and resources, to address the list management issue. Tier III Blocklist (Low/ No impact ) These are considered the lowest tier and therefore cause the least impact across the Marketo sender ecosystem. Some of these blocklists were more impactful at one time, while others are only impactful based on the sender region (Manitu). Others still can suddenly flare up (Lashback). There are also many blocklists that are ignored (0spam), and are not taken seriously because they do not provide any means to delist once on the list (NoSolicitado) or that they charge money to have the listing removed ( UCEPROTECT ). The pay-to-delist model is not well respected in the email industry. When using blocklist tool checkers, such as MXToolBox, many blocklists will appear, but very few are relevant. Here is our selection of Blocklists you may come across that are least impactful: Project Honey Pot SpamAssassin URIBL/SURBL DrMX PSBL 0spam HostKarma Ascams ZapBL Barracuda Trendmicro Inc. Cloudmark Proofpoint Invaluement ISP Blocklists Some ISPs use internal blocklists to make blocking decisions. Examples include AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook and Hotmail. If your IP is being blocked by one of these networks, and those networks have a large presence in your lists, a block of this kind could have a noticeable negative impact on delivery. Marketo monitors for significant ISP blocks. Those experiencing deliverability issues with emails not making it to the Inbox and bulking in the spam folder may benefit from additional services with our Email Delivery Consultants. Remediation Steps: Email Delivery Compliance Team works to resolve any ISP blocks. ISP blocks are are usually resolved or lifted within less than 24 hours of a delisting request. Customers experiencing significant blocks for Microsoft domains (outlook.com, live.com, microsoft.com), can submit a request to the delivery team to seek mitigation on their behalf. Additional Resources: Blocklist Deep Dive Abuse Report Deep Dive What is a spamtrap, or spam trap, and why does it matter? Blocklist remediation Blocklist resolution flowchart Successful lead reconfirmation What is a blocklist?

There are thousands of blocklists out there and all of them operate a little differently and all have varying levels of reputation. There are only a dozen blocklists that really can impact delivery. The blocklist that requires the most work from you when you request delisting is Spamhaus. Spamhaus is a trustworthy blocklist and if you are listed at Spamhaus you have made a mistake that will need to be directly addressed before the listing can be removed. SpamCop is considered a tier I blocklist for B2B marketers but a tier II for B2C marketers. Marketo responds to all SpamCop listings; researching to identify the source so we can work with the customer to educate on best practices and prevent future listings. Some blocklists require that you pay a fee to be delisted. These blocklists are not favored in the email community because they use this tactic. For the most part, Marketo advises our customers not to mind alerts of being listed on a pay-to-delist blocklist. These blocklists tend to have minimal impact to your deliverability. For the most part blocklists are dynamic and resolve themselves in around 24 hours if the issue resolves. If the problematic sending continues, the blocklist will continue to keep you listed until the offending sending pattern stops. If you are blocklisted, your main concern at that point should be making sure it doesn't happen again. For steps on how to identify the problematic data source and improve your list hygiene in an effort to avoid blocklist issues, see our article on blocklists that matter.The article highlight those that have the potential to be the most impactful, as well as those to be largely ignored . Because blocklists are dynamic and constantly evolving, their relevancy is also subject to change within the Marketo sender ecosystem. Some had notable impact at one time but no longer are. Therefore always make sure to check if the current blocklist(s) of concern is a reputable and relevant to the sender region and ecosystem, and become familiar with those that matter the most.

*Updated in September 2024 Leads can be auto unsubscribed due to default Feedback Loop setup with the ISPs listed on this page. You can use the following filters to find leads that have clicked the SPAM button in your emails: Filter 1: Data Value Changed Attribute: Unsubscribe New Value: True Reason: Contains, complaint (Optional to Specify what Email Domain) Filter 2: Email Address Email Address: Contains, @domain.

*Updated in September 2024 Quick points: Spamtraps are addresses owned by antispam organizations Emailing a spamtrap can result in your sending domain or IP to be blocklisted Maintain current, direct opt-in with an active lead database to avoid this Spamtraps are usually functional email addresses that can successfully receive a message. What is a spam trap or spamtrap? A spam trap, or spamtrap is an email address secretly owned by an antispam organization that is used to detect spam. Antispam organizations do not sign up for mailing lists, so they consider any email sent to these addresses to be spam. Once an email is sent to the spamtrap, the antispam organization that owns this address can/will blocklist the IP and/or domain that sent the email. Email administrators purchase subscriptions to the data offered by blocklist providers and may use the lists to block all incoming email from listed IPs or containing listed domains. From the marketer’s perspective, this can mean a high number of bounced emails leading to low lead engagement, and ultimately to weak revenue performance. There are three types of spamtraps – pristine traps, typo, and repurposed/recycled traps. A pristine trap is an email address that was never used by a person. A repurposed trap is an email address that once belonged to someone but is no longer a valid address; these addresses will bounce as bad addresses for at least six months before an antispam organization will turn them into live traps. A typo trap will contain a misspelled domain. How can a spamtrap get into my Marketo lead database? Purchased data Purchased data is unreliable and is high risk for your brand’s sender reputation. The antispam community does not like the use of purchased data, so antispam administrators have made a concerted effort to get spamtrap addresses into the databases of data vendors. While data vendors may claim they provide opt-in data, you risk inadvertently purchasing spam trap addresses when using a data vendor. A foundational strategy to maintaining healthy sender reputation is to gather email addresses directly from individuals alongside their consent to be enrolled in bulk email communication. Sending unsolicited email is prohibited by the Adobe’s Acceptable Use Policy because this practice has a high risk of causing deliverability problems for your brand and the Adobe network. To avoid spam traps, get direct opt-in before sending email. If you have purchased data in the past, we recommend setting any inactive purchased leads to marketing suspended or simply removing them from your database. Old data Repurposed traps are email addresses that were once valid but are now owned by an antispam organization. This can happen when a company goes out of business; expired domains are often purchased by antispam organizations. Sometimes a company that has a direct partnership with an antispam organization will allow email addresses of former employees or users to become spamtraps. Because antispam organizations will generally make sure future spam traps return a bounce as bad addresses for at least six months before they become spam traps you can prevent repurposed traps in your database by emailing remaining engaged with everyone in your database at least once every six months. To safeguard your sender reputation, avoid reengagement campaigns to addresses you have not contacted in more than six months. Unconfirmed form entries People can unintentionally enter spamtrap addresses into forms either by mistyping their email or by intentionally using a fake email address that happens to be a spamtrap. If you use single opt-in, you risk adding spamtraps to your mailing list. This is more likely to happen if you are a B2C company or through the offer of gated content that requires an email address. How can I identify spamtrap addresses? Spamtrap addresses are considered trade secrets by the antispam organizations, and they are obscured by design. They do not share these addresses because their goal is for senders to change their mailing practices rather than to simply remove spamtraps from their mailing lists. That said, one thing we do know about spamtraps is that they tend to be automated processes and do not engage. Spamtraps do not click links. You can use smart list filters to identify inactive leads in Marketo. How can I prevent spamtraps in my database? Maintain active, direct opt-in for all leads Don’t purchase data Email engaged contacts least once every six months Don’t add old data directly to your mailing list Suppress perpetually disengaged contacts Grant access to assets such as free trials and whitepapers as email links to discourage intentional use of fake email addresses on forms Use scripting on your forms to identify potential typos

We manage our network to provide our customers with the highest server availability and best deliverability possible. Marketo Engage has a strong anti-spam policy and a team that handles blocklist notifications in our IP space and spam complaints. We also cooperate with most major anti-spam providers and ISPs. In addition, we maintain feedback loops (FBL) for many of the most popular email providers. For more information on FBLs and ISPs with whom we have this arrangement, click here. Blocklistings are usually caused by sending mail to a spam trap email address. For an explanation on what causes blocklisting, click here. When we receive notification of a blocklisting, we react in two ways. First, we go through the procedures to remove the listing from that blocklist as soon as possible. Second, we determine (if possible) which of our customers caused the blocklisting and work with them to improve their mailing lists to prevent a reoccurrence in the future. This is usually a cooperative process, most frequently, a review of mailing policies and strategic pruning of a customer’s lead database will return them to best practices. Blocklists: Frequently Asked Questions Is this article helpful ? YesNo

If you have submitted a support case and you feel that the case was improperly handled or that the solution being offered does not meet the communicated Marketo support expectations, then we would welcome the opportunity to look deeper at your specific support engagement and work with you on delivering a better resolution. Caution: If the item you're looking to escalate is related to a Production Down incident, please call the support line for your region to receive immediate assistance. Support Manager escalations are only handled during normal business hours. The phone numbers for each region are listed below, follow the prompts for P1: Americas: +1.877.270.6586, Direct: +1.650.376.2303 Europe, Middle East, & Africa: +353 (0)1 242 3030, UK: 0800 151 3030 Asia Pacific: +61 2 8031 8188 Japan: +81.03.4233.9014 How to Escalate: Step 1. Navigate to the "Case Management" area of the support portal either by mousing over the Support tab and selecting "Case Management" or clicking the Support tab and click on the “My Case Management” button. NOTE: You will need an open or recently closed case in order to escalate to support leadership. This is a article attached image Step 2. From here you will need to click on either an open or a recently closed* case: This is a article attached image *Support Cases that have been closed for longer than 10 days are no longer eligible to be re-opened and we ask that you open a new support ticket for your current issue prior to escalating to a Support Manager. We ask that you have an open support ticket for a Support Manager to be able to address specific issues. Step 3. After selecting a case, click on the Escalate to Manager button: This is a article attached image Step 4. A pop up will display and you will need to the purpose for the escalation and click on the “Escalate” button. This is a article attached image Once your support escalation case has been submitted a Marketo Support Leader will contact you within 1 business day of your support region's support hours to address the issue.

When a customer triggers a blacklisting on Marketo's shared IP range that customer is moved to a set of IPs we call the quarantined IP range. We do this to protect the health of our shared network and ensure the best deliverability possible for all of our customers on that network. If you have received a Blacklist Notification from Marketo reporting that you have triggered a blacklisting your Marketo account is now in the quarantined IP range. While you are in the quarantined range it is possible that you may experience a slight decrease in your deliverability rates. The reason for this is that you are now sending from a range made up of senders that have also caused other blacklist issues. All customers have received a notice of the listing and are in the process of repairing their database. There are two ways to be removed from the quarantined IP range: Follow the steps outlined in our Blacklist Remediation article. Be sure to fill out the form referenced in the email alert to indicate that you have taken steps to mitigate the issue. Demonstrate clean sending behavior for 3 months. We remove senders from the quarantined IP range if they have not triggered any new listings in 3 months. To ensure your best deliverability rates blacklist issues should be addressed right away to prevent further damage to your sending reputation. Furthermore, if no action is taken to improve list hygiene the issue will likely recur. Marketo's Privacy Team strongly recommend following the Blacklist Remediation steps. Additional Resources: Blacklist Deep Dive

Issue Emails with valid email address get soft bounced with this error: Local address contains control or whitespace. Solution This error means that the email has a space somewhere in the the From email address or there was a comma or extra character in the From line. If you do not see a space inside the email address, check the end of the address to see if a space somehow got added at the end. The email send did not occur due to the error with the address. The emails will need to be resent once after the associated address is corrected with white spaces or extra characters. Also, there is the possibility that email address "text" contains Paragraph marks or hidden formatting symbols (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/f/formmark.htm) and instance users will required to have it reviewed and changed.

An email being filtered to a quarantine or bulk mail folder happens after the recipient mail server has accepted message. Once an email has been accepted by a mail server, it is impossible to tell where it went or what happened to it. Note that this is true of any mail sent by any system on the Internet. Every mail server has configurable filters that determine how received mail will be handled. The mail server administrator should be able to adjust those filters to ensure delivery of emails based on their business standards, or there may even be end-user-configurable controls that can accomplish the same thing. If test mailings you are sending to yourself or your colleagues are being filtered to a quarantine or bulk mail folder, you should consider asking your email administrator to whitelist Marketo’s IP ranges. They can be found here. You can also improve your deliverability in general by setting up SPF and DKIM records, and branding your tracking links.

Syntax Recommendations Common Look Up mechanisms Common Modifiers Too Many Mechanisms Character String Too Long Null Records in the SPF Record Repetitive Records in the SPF Record - Void Lookups Validation Tools Syntax Recommendations Common Look Up mechanisms a: mx: include: ip4: ip6: exists: ptr: all Common Modifiers redirect= exp= An A Record must ALWAYS contain IP address (map host to IP) CNAME (Alias) must contain hostnames. No IPs here NS an MX records must contain host names. No IPs allowed. MX records (for mail servers) should contain hostnames NOT IPs. Too Many Mechanisms Section 10.1, "Processing Limits" of the SPF RFC 4408 specifies the following in regards to DNS lookups: SPF implementations MUST limit the number of mechanisms and modifiers that do DNS lookups to at most 10 per SPF check, including any lookups caused by the use of the "include" mechanism or the "redirect" modifier. If this number is exceeded during a check, a PermError MUST be returned. The "include", "a", "mx", "ptr", and "exists" mechanisms as well as the "redirect" modifier do count against this limit. The "all", "ip4", and "ip6" mechanisms do not require DNS lookups and therefore do not count against this limit. The "exp" modifier does not count against this limit because the DNS lookup to fetch the explanation string occurs after the SPF record has been evaluated. This limit is in place to prevent SPF lookups from being a useful avenue for Denial of Service attacks. Using an example SPF record as an example to illustrate, this record was breaking with 12 look-ups: example.com text = "v=spf1 include:_spf-a.example.com include:_spf-b.example.com include:_spf-c.example.com include:_spf-ssg-a.example.com include:spf-a.anotherexample.com ip4:131.107.115.215 ip4:131.107.115.214 ip4:205.248.106.64 ip4:205.248.106.30 ip4:205.248.106.32 ~all" [ 5 mechanisms] _spf-a.example.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:216.99.5.67 ip4:216.99.5.68 ip4:202.177.148.100 ip4:203.122.32.250 ip4:202.177.148.110 ip4:213.199.128.139 ip4:213.199.128.145 ip4:207.46.50.72 ip4:207.46.50.82 a:mh.example.m0.net ~all" [ +1 = 6 mechanisms] mh.example.m0.net a = 209.11.164.116 _spf-b.example.com text = "v=spf1 include:spf.messaging.example.com ip4:207.46.22.35 ip4:207.46.22.98 ip4:207.46.22.101 ip4:131.107.1.27 ip4:131.107.1.17 ip4:131.107.65.22 ip4:131.107.65.131 ip4:131.107.1.101 ip4:131.107.1.102 ip4:217.77.141.52 ip4:217.77.141.59 ~all" [+1 = 7 mechanisms] spf.messaging.example.com text = "v=spf1 include:spfa.anotherexample.com include:spfb.anotherexaple.com include:spfc.anotherexample.com -all" [+3 = 10 mechanisms] spfa.anotherexample.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:157.55.116.128/26 ip4:157.55.133.0/24 ip4:157.55.158.0/23 ip4:157.55.234.0/24 ip4:157.56.112.0/24 ip4:157.56.116.0/25 ip4:157.56.120.0/25 ip4:207.46.100.0/24 ip4:207.46.108.0/25 ip4:207.46.163.0/24 ip4:134.170.140.0/24 ip4:157.56.110.0/23 -all" [+0 = 10 mechanisms] spfb.anotherexample.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:207.46.51.64/26 ip4:213.199.154.0/24 ip4:213.199.180.128/26 ip4:216.32.180.0/23 ip4:64.4.22.64/26 ip4:65.55.83.128/27 ip4:65.55.169.0/24 ip4:65.55.88.0/24 ip4:94.245.120.64/26 ip4:131.107.0.0/16 ip4:157.56.73.0/24 ip4:134.170.132.0/24 -all" [+0 = 10 mechanisms] spfc.anotherexample.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:207.46.101.128/26 ip6:2a01:111:f400:7c00::/54 ip6:2a01:111:f400:fc00::/54 ip4:157.56.87.192/26 ip4:157.55.40.32/27 ip4:157.56.123.0/27 ip4:157.56.91.0/27 ip4:157.55.206.0/24 ip4:157.55.207.0/24 ip4:157.56.206.0/23 ip4:157.56.208.0/22 -all" [ +0 = 10 mechanisms] _spf-c.example.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:203.32.4.25 ip4:213.199.138.181 ip4:213.199.138.191 ip4:207.46.52.71 ip4:207.46.52.79 ip4:131.107.1.18 ip4:131.107.1.19 ip4:131.107.1.20 ip4:131.107.1.48 ip4:131.107.1.56 ip4:86.61.88.25 ip4:131.107.1.44 ip4:131.107.1.37 ~all" [+0 = 10 mechanisms] _spf-ssg-a.example.com text = "v=spf1 include:_spf-ssg-b.example.com include:_spf-ssg-c.example.com ~all" [+2 = 12 mechanisms] _spf-ssg-b.example.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:207.68.169.173/30 ip4:207.68.176.1/26 ip4:207.46.132.129/27 ip4:207.68.176.97/27 ip4:65.55.238.129/26 ip4:207.46.222.193/26 ip4:207.46.116.135/29 ip4:65.55.178.129/27 ip4:213.199.161.129/27 ip4:65.55.33.70/28 ~all" [+0 = 12 mechanisms] _spf-ssg-c.example.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:65.54.121.123/29 ip4:65.55.81.53/28 ip4:65.55.234.192/26 ip4:207.46.200.0/27 ip4:65.55.52.224/27 ip4:94.245.112.10/31 ip4:94.245.112.0/27 ip4:111.221.26.0/27 ip4:207.46.50.221/26 ip4:207.46.50.224 ~all" [+0 = 12 mechanisms] spf-a.secondexample.com text = "v=spf1 ip4:157.55.0.192/26 ip4:157.55.1.128/26 ip4:157.55.2.0/25 ip4:65.54.190.0/24 ip4:65.54.51.64/26 ip4:65.54.61.64/26 ip4:65.55.111.0/24 ip4:65.55.116.0/25 ip4:65.55.34.0/24 ip4:65.55.90.0/24 ip4:65.54.241.0/24 ip4:207.46.117.0/24 ~all" [+0 = 12 mechanisms] Character String Too Long 255 character limitation in a single string https://kb.isc.org/article/AA-00356/0/Can-I-have-a-TXT-or-SPF-record-longer-than-255-characters.html http://www.string-functions.com/length.aspx You may have more than 255 characters of data in a TXT or SPF record, but not more than 255 characters in a single string. If you attempt to create an SPF or TXT record with a long string (>255 characters) in it, BIND will give an error (e.g. "invalid rdata format: ran out of space".) Strings in SPF and TXT records should be no longer than 255 characters. However to get around this limitation, per RFC 4408 a TXT or SPF record is allowed to contain multiple strings, which should be concatenated together by the reading application. In the case of use for SPF (using either TXT or SPF RRs) the strings are concatenated together without spaces as described below. Reassembly by other applications of multiple strings stored in TXT records might work differently. 3.1.3. Multiple Strings in a Single DNS record As defined in [RFC1035] sections 3.3.14 and 3.3, a single text DNS record (either TXT or SPF RR types) can be composed of more than one string. If a published record contains multiple strings, then the record MUST be treated as if those strings are concatenated together without adding spaces. For example: IN TXT "v=spf1 .... first" "second string..." MUST be treated as equivalent to IN TXT "v=spf1 .... firstsecond string..." SPF or TXT records containing multiple strings are useful in constructing records that would exceed the 255-byte maximum length of a string within a single TXT or SPF RR record. EXAMPLE text = "v=spf1 ip4:199.15.212.0/22 ip4:72.3.185.0/24 ip4:72.32.154.0/24 ip4:72.32.217.0/24 ip4:72.32.243.0/24 ip4:94.236.119.0/26 ip4:37.188.97.188/32 ip4:185.28.196.0/22 ~all“ text = "v=spf1 ip4:199.15.212.0/22“ " ip4:72.3.185.0/24 ip4:72.32.154.0/24 ip4:72.32.217.0/24" " ip4:72.32.243.0/24 ip4:94.236.119.0/26" " ip4:37.188.97.188/32 ip4:185.28.196.0/22 ~all" Null Records in the SPF Record A record that is NULL or that does not exist will break an SPF record. Syntax within the record is very important, if there are extra spaces between mechanisms it will count as NULL. EXAMPLE text = "v=spf1 ip4:199.15.212.0/22“ <- accurate text = "v=spf1 ip4: 199.15.212.0/22“ <- NULL (NOTE the space between IP4: and the IP) Repetitive Records in the SPF Record - Void Lookups If there are too many repetitive mechanisms in the SPF record, including records that cascade (for example when using "include:") the record will break. There is a MAX of 2 void look ups in an SPF record. More than that and the record will break. This prevents SPF records from being used in Denial of Service style attacks. Validation Tools SPF checker, syntax validator and SPF tester http://www.kitterman.com/spf/validate.html SPF checker http://vamsoft.com/support/tools/spf-policy-tester SPF validator http://vamsoft.com/support/tools/spf-syntax-validator CIDR Calculator http://www.subnet-calculator.com/cidr.php Nslookup http://network-tools.com/nslook/ SPF creation wizard http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/content/technologies/senderid/wizard/ Common SPF errors http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Common_mistakes SPF syntax definitions http://www.openspf.org/SPF_Record_Syntax

Abuse Report An abuse report is when an email recipient forwards a complaint directly to abuse@marketo.com. Marketo’s Privacy and Compliance Team processes all complaints to these addresses and will unsubscribe the complainer when possible. Feedback Loop Complaint A feedback loop complaint is when an ISP forwards the complaints that originate from their users. For example, when someone clicks the SPAM or JUNK button in their email client. ISPs that offer FBLs expect that subscribers like Marketo will mark the complainer as unsubscribed in the original database. Marketo does process FBL complaints and marks the email address as unsubscribed. Additional Information: Feedback Loops (FBL) Abuse Report Deep Dive Finding Leads that are Auto Unsubscribed for Email Spam Complaints / Feedback Loop (FBL)

From the Marketo Email Use Policy: "...You may not send any Unsolicited Email by use or means of the Marketo Service. "Unsolicited Email" is defined as email sent to persons other than: persons with whom you have an existing business relationship, OR (ii) persons who have consented to the receipt of such email, including publishing or providing their email address in a manner from which consent to receive email of the type transmitted may be reasonably implied." The full text of the policy is here: https://documents.marketo.com/legal/use-policy/ An abuse report is a report that an individual sends to abuse@marketo.com alleging that a Marketo customer sent unsolicited email. There are a number of reasons why someone might report abuse. Here are a few common reasons people report abuse to us: The person forgot they opted-in to the mailing The person received genuinely unsolicited email The person opted in, but the branding in the email was different than the branding on the opt in form so it was not clear the email they received was connected to their opt-in experience Someone signed up for your list with the wrong address, and the person who actually received your email felt it was abusive For additional reference - Abuse Report Deep Dive

No, if you have received the blacklist notification, you are not blocked from sending mail. You can continue to mail while you work through the remediation steps. The only time we will ever block you from sending mail is if you trigger a listing at Spamhaus, the world’s most respected and widely used blacklist. If this happens, you will receive a call or email to let you know what’s going on and we will work with you to resolve the issue. This is a rare occurrence. Additional Resources: Can you give me the spam trap address that triggered the listing? What is a spamtrap, or spam trap, and why does it matter? What is a blacklist? How does Marketo respond to blacklisting and spam notifications? Top blacklists - What you need to know Blacklist Remediation Successful Reconfirmation

If you sent an email from the Lead Database (as a Single Flow Action), as part of a campaign, or as a test email but didn't receive it, here are some tips. Check the "From:" address When sending a test message, make sure to check the "From:" address setting on your message. To do this, go to the Email Settings tab of the email editor. In the "From:" field, make sure that you either have a single valid email address, or a valid email address as the default, if you are using a token. Many people want to send their messages from the lead owner. When you use the send test feature, the email address you are sending to doesn't have a full lead record, and so it doesn't have a lead owner. Since Marketo cannot send an email with no "From:" address, test messages without a valid email address in the "From:" field will not send. Send as a Lead If you have verified that the email had a valid From: address and you still aren't getting it, make sure to create yourself as a lead and send using a flow action. See if the mail was sent If you sent the email as part of a campaign or Single Flow Action, check the campaign's Results tab or your lead detail page to see if that mail was already sent to you. If it hasn't been sent yet, try waiting a little while longer. Check your Junk Mail In your email client, check your Junk Mail or Spam folder to see if the mail landed there. If it did, you should change the content of your email. Check your corporate spam filter Your corporate mail server may have blocked emails from Marketo; you should contact your IT department to see if this is the case. Please see our instructions for whitelisting Marketo's email servers: Add Marketo to Your Corporate Email Whitelist Try sending to a different recipient If you sent the original mail to your corporate account, try sending to a personal account on Yahoo or Gmail. If you sent it to a personal account, try your corporate mail account. Use Marketo's Email Deliverability product The Email Deliverability PowerPack, with Design Informant and Inbox Informant, can warn you when your mail is being rejected because of its content and help you identify junk mail pitfalls. Also, using Domain Keys and SPF improve the chances of your email landing in your leads' inboxes. Contact Marketo If you still can't figure out what happened contact Marketo to see if we can help.

When using Marketo it is not a requirement to set up DNS text records for SPF and DKIM. However, Marketo recommends setting up SPF and DKIM because it improves the deliverability of your mailings. Configuring and implementing one or both of these records is a way to verify that the server sending your mail is authorized to do so. If a recipient domain is configured to check for SPF and/or DKIM and those DNS records are available and your mail passes the SPF/DKIM check, it further reinforces its good reputation. Not implementing SPF/DKIM records does not add to or subtract from its reputation, it’s just not there. Please note, not all domains check for SPF/DKIM and if this is the case, again, the presence of these records does not add or subtract from your mail’s deliverability. There is no negative effect to setting up these records, and it can improve your deliverability. It is for these reasons that Marketo recommends setting up these DNS records and configuring their use in your instance of Marketo. For more information on how to set up and configure SPF/DKIM, please read our KB article here.

Any emails being sent as part of 'Forward to Friend' will create that user as a new lead (provided that the lead does not already exist in Marketo). When leads are created in Marketo via the 'Forward to Friend' feature, Marketo automatically unsubscribes the lead records in order to protect our global customers from anti-spam laws. This is because a lead being sent a forwarded email doesn't qualify as opting in to a mailing list and also prevents them from getting any other emails by accident.

Issue How to re-subscribe records who are already unsubscribed. Solution Once the person is willing to resubscribe to receive your emails, either of the following can be done: Smart Campaign: Change Data Value of "unsubscribed" to false.You can either use a Smart Campaign to execute this flow or can just go with single flow action ( select the lead, Person actions > Marketing > Change Data value; Attribute: Unsubscribed, New Value: False.) You can manually change unsubscribe from True to False. To do this, go to Lead database, click on the lead ( whom you need to unsubscribe), go to lead Info tab, look for unsubscribe field , remove the tick or check off the unsubscribe field checkbox.

Knowledgebase

Maintaining a Directory of Leads Bouncing Emails

Top Blocklists - What You Need to Know

How do blocklist issues get resolved?

Finding Leads that are Auto Unsubscribed for Email Spam Complaints / Feedback Loop (FBL)

What is a spam trap and why do they matter?

550 Rejected by Header Based Anti-spoofing Policy

Top Blocklists - What You Need to Know

Which blocklists should I be concerned about?

How does Marketo respond to blocklisting and spam notifications?

Escalating a Support Issue

What Is the Quarantined IP Range?

Soft Bounce: Local Address Contains Control or Whitespace

How Can I Tell If My Email Is Getting Filtered into a Quarantine or Bulk Mail Folder?

Common SPF Errors and Fixes

What Is the Difference between an Abuse Report and a Feedback Loop Complaint?

Why do people report abuse?

Can I Still Send My Emails, or Are You Blocking Me from Sending?

I Didn't Receive a Sample Email that I Sent

What Are the Possible Effects of Not Setting Up SPF/DKIM Records?

Email With Email CC Isn't Sending to Some CC Recipients

Unsubscribed Occurs When ‘Forward to Friend’ Email Is Received

How to Re-subscribe a Lead