Problems Sending to AOL E-mail addresses
Problems Sending E-mail to AOL Email addresses
Question: I am having problems sending e-mail to AOL users. My e-mail is getting returned with the following subject:
“Returned mail: see transcript for details” or
“Warning: could not send message for past 4 hours”
Answer: EXPLANATION: The IP address you are sending from has been blocked due to AOL Member complaints and/or high volumes of e-mail.
Solutions:
If you are on a shared hosting platform the issue may be that someone else on the platform has been spamming. If your host is unresponsive and you need to send to aol users there often isn’t much you can to but change to a more responsive host…there are many good hosting companies and we at Bower Web Solutions like to think of ourselves as one of them.
Complaints: When an AOL member clicks “this is spam” for a piece of e-mail sent from one of your IPs, this is considered a “complaint”. If you are having difficulty with the number of complaints you are receiving, a feedback loop would benefit you. Once you have requested a feedback loop you will be notified when a member clicks “this is spam”. The feedback loop (FBL) will forward any mail reported as spam originating from the associated IP addresses back to the listed e-mail address.
Feedback Loop Information
When an AOL member clicks “this is spam” for a piece of email sent from one of your IPs, this is considered a “complaint”. If you are having difficulty with the number of complaints you are receiving a feedback loop would benefit you. Once you have requested a feedback loop you will be notified when a member clicks “this is spam”. The e-mail sent to you from SCOMP@aol.net will contain the complete e-mail and header information. Due to the AOL member privacy policy they cannot include the e-mail address that it was originally sent to.
Below are some suggestions on how the feedback loop can help you:
Making the most of the feedback loop
Customize your e-mail: We suggest using custom e-mail headers or a custom remove link in the e-mail to help you determine what part of your member base may have subscribed in error.
What to do with the information
Mailing lists:
We suggest removing members from your list who have marked the mail as spam. If they continue to receive the e-mail and mark it as spam it will continue to generate complaints.
Some mailing list administrators have taken the drastic measure of removing all aol members and sending them an email asking them to re-subscribe. This is making the many pay for the sins of the few but is often the only reasonable recourse.
Using a 3rd party for your mass emailing such as Constant Contact moves the issue to another server that will not affect your normal email plus all of the better ones already have a relationship with aol as well as many of the major RBL (Remote or Realtime Black Lists).
Network Security:
Detecting and stopping sources of spam on your network is crucial. These sources can stem from viruses or problems with network security.
When you must have this information:
If you have submitted a request for the whitelist, using the feedback loop is a requirement for approval. This will assure us that you are aware of complaints against your e-mail and that you are taking steps to correct them.
