Member Guide to Sender Score Certified™ Program Administration

The following is a Member Guide of Frequently Asked Questions about Sender Score Certified and the program administration.

Table of Contents

An Overview of the Sender Score Certified Program

What is Sender Score Certified?

Sender Score Certified is a whitelist that identifies legitimate email traffic for the benefit of senders and receivers. Because senders in the program meet qualitative program standards and quantitative requirements, the mail is assured to have minimum impact to the receiving party, namely ISPs.

What is Sender Score Certified Plus?

Sender Score Certified Plus is a high level of sender certification within Sender Score Certified. Sender Score Certified Plus is for senders who meet all the standards required to be a Sender Score Certified Sender and also obtain explicit double opt-in permission for their mailings. Senders certified to the Plus level cannot rely on a prior business relationship as a form of consent for sending email, and are not permitted to rent, share, purchase, or sell email addresses to third parties. The fees and application process are the same for the Plus level and standard program level.

Is Sender Score Certified an anti-spam solution?

No. Sender Score Certified works in conjunction with existing anti-spam solutions. By identifying legitimate email, the incidence of mail being blocked or placed in a bulk of spam mail folder by a spam filter is reduced.

How does Sender Score Certified compare to Goodmail CertifiedEmail and the Habeas SafeList?

Sender Score Certified is the only email accreditation program (or whitelist) with deep corporate and consumer market coverage. When accredited through Sender Score Certified, senders reduce filtering risk and increase delivery rates at more than 600 million email inboxes. Top internet services providers such as MSN, Windows Live Hotmail and Roadrunner use Sender Score Certified in filtering decisions, along with thousands of corporate domains and leading filtering solutions such as Spam Assassin, IronPort Systems and Barracuda Networks. ISPs and filtering companies rely on Sender Score Certified to protect more than 40 percent of all email inboxes, including 67 percent of all consumer inboxes, and query the Sender Score Certified whitelist more than 5 billion times per day.

Goodmail CertifiedEmail is not a whitelist. It is a private program based on business relationships between Goodmail and receivers such as AOL and Yahoo!. Senders on the Goodmail CertifiedEmail list are required to implement Goodmail technology so that receivers using the program can recognize mail sent under the terms of the CertifiedEmail program.

Habeas. SafeList is a whitelist similar to Sender Score Certified, but with less coverage. Both Habeas SafeList and Sender Score Certified are used by SpamAssasin. SpamAssassin awards the same number of points (-4 points) for both Sender Score Certified and SafeList. SpamAssassin awards (-8) points for Sender Score Certified Plus.

How does Sender Score Certified facilitate the delivery of email?

Hotmail, MSN, Road Runner, Cox, Frontier Net, Pair Networks, SBC, and Infostream are just a few of the receivers using the program. However, we do not publish a list of all ISPs using the program because they are not under contract with us and we do not have permission to use their names. In addition, some ISPs prefer not to publish details of the whitelists or blacklists they use to filter email, and we respect that request.

Receivers, namely ISPs, access the whitelist through a lookup on a secure DNS server. The whitelist is a list of certified IP addresses that send mail. If the IP address about which a receiver is inquiring is on the whitelist, they know that the IP address is certified and they can then apply preferential filtering to messages sent by the IP address.

Do ISPs and web mail providers profit from using Sender Score Certified?

No. ISPs and web mail providers do not get paid by Sender Score Certified. The value of Sender Score Certified to ISPs and web mail providers is that they have a list of trusted email senders who are willing to guarantee the quality of email.

The Benefits of Being a Sender Score Certified Sender

There are many benefits of being on the Sender Score Certified whitelist, but those most frequently cited by Senders are:

  1. Sender Score Certified is the only whitelist used by Hotmail/MSN.
  2. At Hotmail/MSN, certified email is delivered with images and links in tact, and the user is provided with a trusted unsubscribe link. Additionally, certified IP addresses are not subjected to hourly throttling limits and receive more lenient daily throttling limits.
  3. Sender Score Certified has deep corporate and consumer coverage. It is used by Hotmail/MSN, Road Runner, Cox, SpamAssassin, and IronPort C-Series mail appliances to name a few.
  4. Collectively receivers using the Sender Score Certified whitelist provide access to over 600 million email inboxes.
  5. Senders are not required to make any changes to their sending infrastructure or implement any proprietary technology to implement Sender Score Certified.
  6. Many senders consider Sender Score Certified to be an insurance policy against temporary downswings in their delivery and their reputation.
  7. Sender Score Certified compares extremely favorably to pay for delivery services on a per message basis
  8. The cost of Sender Score Certified is favorable compared to the lost revenue resulting from a block at Hotmail/MSN.
  9. Delivery rates for Return Path delivery monitoring clients who are also Sender Score Certified Senders increased by an average of 21% across Internet service providers publicly known to use the program.
  10. Program members receive reputation reporting which is an excellent tool for gauging if they have problems that are impacting their delivery performance.

Measuring Sender Performance

What Standards are required for Senders in the program?

As a member of the Sender Score Certified program, you have agreed to abide by the program's Email Standards and meet the program's Quantitative Requirements.

The Email Standards ensure that you meet standards with regard to:

You can review the Email Standards at the following location on the Sender Score Certified website: http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/standards.php.

Senders are also required to remain in compliance with the program.s Quantitative Requirements. Return Path uses data from Hotmail, SpamCop, Sender Base, Public Blacklists, and our proprietary system, Reputation Monitor to measure compliance with the Quantitative Requirements. The specific categories measured are:

You can review the quantitative requirements at the following location on the Sender Score Certified website: http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/quan_req.php.

What sources of data are used to measure Sender performance and compliance with program Standards?

We are always working to expand the network of receivers from which we receive data for the program. As significant partnerships are formed, we will announce them if both parties are in agreement to do so.

In addition to data from Return Path.s Reputation Monitor, the partners currently providing data to Return Path in support of the program are:

What information is available to Senders to measure compliance with program standards?

As a member of the program, you will receive a Daily Compliance Report via email. The report details each of the quantitative measures and how each of your IP addresses rate against the requirement. This report also provides visual queues to indicate where an IP address is at risk of violating a compliance requirement or where an IP address has violated a specific quantitative requirement.

The Daily Performance Report also includes a csv file for reviewing detailed daily performance data

Compliance Actions: Suspended and Disabled IP Addresses

What is the role of the Sender Score Certified Compliance Team?

The role of the Sender Score Certified Compliance Team is to ensure that Certified Senders meet the Email Standards and Quantitative Requirements of the program.

Under what circumstances is an IP address suspended?

On a daily basis, the Compliance Team reviews IP addresses in the program. Any IP address that is not compliant with any of the quantitative requirements, it is subject to suspension.

Excessive suspension can result in removal of all IPs from the program. Violations of the Email Standards are subject to removal of the sender from the program.

Compliance Team members will take into account "small data sets", infrequent mailings and other factors when determining if a suspension action is warranted or necessary. If an IP address is suspended, members will be notified via email to the same contact addresses which receive the daily compliance email report.

Under what circumstances is a suspended IP address re-enabled?

Disabled or suspended IP addresses can be reinstated to the whitelist when measured values have returned to levels of good standing. IP addresses are monitored by the Sender Score Certified Compliance Team, and IP addresses that have come back into compliance will be enabled following a review of the data.

Reinstatements are automatic. Senders do not need to contact the Compliance Team to have an IP reinstated once it has met all compliance requirements. When an IP address is re-enabled, members will be notified via email to the same contact addresses which receive the daily compliance email report.

How can senders track their compliance with the quantitative requirements?

The daily report will show each of your IP address in the program along with an indicator as to whether the IP address is "active" or "disabled". If an IP address is disabled because of a suspension, Hotmail Volume and Complaint data is not provided during the time that the IP address is disabled. All other data will continue to be reported for the disabled IP address.

The Daily Performance Report also includes a csv file for reviewing detailed daily performance data.

What resources are available to correct a compliance violation?

We provide general assistance for resolving compliance violations within the document located at http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/suspension.php

If I am held accountable for complaints generated by my campaigns, shouldn't Sender Score Certified provide me with the complainers email address so I can remove it from my database?

Sender Score Certified is an accreditation program and not a feedback loop program. We strongly encourage senders to sign-up for feedback loops where they are available from receivers. We provide a list of receiver feedback loops within the document located at http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/suspension.php.

We encourage senders to not only remove subscribers who have complained from their list, but more importantly, to address the root of the complaint. Good senders also understand their user's experience with their service and respond to problems that are evidenced by complaints, inordinate complaints, or spikes in complaints. Not all ISPs provide a feedback loop. Where an ISP does not provide a feedback loop, understanding why subscriber complain and making program improvements is the best method to reduce complaints.

What is the benefit of Feedback Loops?

A feedback loop allows you to remove subscribers who have complained about your email from your database. However, correcting and permanently reducing complaint rates requires senders to understand why subscribers complain, and make corrections to their email program to enhance the subscriber experience. If you are only removing complainers, you are missing half of the equation.

We provide a list of available feedback loops on our website at http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/suspension.php. However, acceptance into some of these feedback loop programs is subject to the postmaster.s approval.

Additionally, we encourage senders to monitor industry news and postmaster websites to identify the availability of new feedback loops where they are available.

How do I determine my allowable complaint rate?

Your allowable complaint rate is based on the number of messages you attempt to send to either Source A, Source B, or Hotmail. Higher attempted mail volumes have lower allowable complaint rates. Your attempted mail volume includes all mail that you send to the receiver for processing and does not take into consideration bounces and other such reasons that mail is rejected

Your Daily Compliance Report includes an IP Group Total row that indicates the total IP volume sent to each of the data sources. Your allowable complaint rate for that source is determined by this total volume. When the volume is approaching the next higher total volume category, a warning is noted in the Report. If the volume category actually changes, you will be subject to a new complaint rate applicable to the new volume.

Making Account Changes

How can I make changes to my account profile and account contacts?

Account changes can be requested by sending an email to compliance@senderscorecertified.com.

Can Certified Senders add IP addresses to their account?

Yes. To add an IP address to your account, send an email request to compliance@senderscorecertified.com.

The email request should include the IP address you would like to add to your account, and the reason for adding the IP address to your account. IP addresses must be set-up for reverse-DNS; the domain sending email over the IP must have both SPF and Sender ID records published, and postmaster and abuse role accounts enabled. We can not add IP addresses that do not meet these requirements.

Is there a limit to the number of IP addresses Senders can have on their account?

There is currently no limit. Any dedicated IP that actively carries traffic and meets the Email Standards and Quantitative Requirements can be added.

Can Certified Senders delete or disable IP addresses on their account?

Yes. To delete an IP address from your account, or temporarily disable an IP address on your account, send an email request to compliance@senderscorecertified.com.

Do Senders have to certify all IP addresses and email?

No. You can certify select IP addresses or all of your outbound email IP addresses. Both marketing and transactional mail can be sent by certified IP addresses. However, any IP address certified by the program must actively carry traffic and meet the Email Standards and Quantitative Requirements. We do not allow inactive IP addresses to be inventoried in Sender accounts.

Customer Support and Online Resources

What services do Senders receive as part of their licensing agreement?

As a Certified Sender, you receive:

What resources are available with additional information about the Sender Score Certified program?

Information about Sender Score Certified is available on the website at http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/.

Who do I contact for Customer Support?

Senders who have been assigned an Account Representative can contact their Account Representative with questions.

Senders who do not have an Account Representative can contact the Sender Score Certified Support Team at customercare@senderscorecertified.com.

Information is also available on the Sender Score Certified website at http://www.senderscorecertified.com. Look for the Info Center on the sidebar for more information about Standards and for FAQs.

As a Certified Sender can I use the Sender Score Certified logo?

Senders who meet the Member Trademark Usage and Branding Guidelines can use the Sender Score Certified logo. The Requirements are found at http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/tm_usage.php.

General Questions

What is a Complaint?

Complaints occur when a recipient takes an action to complain about the mail that they have received from you. The primary means of lodging a complaint are:

  1. the recipient hits the .report spam. button (or equivalent) in their Mail User Interface (MUA);
  2. the recipient sends a message complaining about a sender to the postmaster or administrator of their Mail Service Provider (MSP)
  3. the recipient sends a complaint to a filtering application (like Cloudmark.s Spam Net) or a complaint-driven blacklist like Spam Cop.

What is a Spam Trap?

Spam Traps are a common technique used by Receivers, ISPs and filtering companies to identify Senders with poor data collection practices. Maintaining an accurate subscriber database is a cornerstone of email best practices, and Receivers have a low tolerance level for Senders who mail to their spam trap addresses.

Spam Trap addresses are addresses that have been established for the sole reason of catching illegitimate email. There are two categories or types of Spam Traps. The first type is a new email account that has never before been used by any user. These accounts do not and will not subscribe to any email communications or be used to communicate in any way.

The second type of spam trap utilized email addresses that were once active, valid users, which have been expired for a significant period of time. These addresses are reactivated and used similarly to new spam traps . they will not subscribe to any email communications or communicate in any way. It is important to note with the second type of spam trap that senders employing solid bounce management procedures should have deactivated any old addresses reported by the ISP as an unknown user. If a sender continues to send to an address that is so old that is was deactivated and then reactivated as a Spam Trap, it can be indicative of poor data management as well.

What is an Unknown User?

Unknown Users are permanent delivery errors that are indicative of an email address that does not exist.

What is a Feedback Loop?

Several ISPs offer feedback loops to senders. A feedback loop is a process whereby when recipients flag a message as spam, the ISP returns a copy of the message to the sender. The expectation is that the sender not only unsubscribe the recipient from receipt of additional email, but also analyze the transactions received to identify and resolve problems with their email program.

We have provided a listing of available feedback loops on the website at http://www.senderscorecertified.com/about/suspension.php. However, members of Sender Score Certified should keep up to date with industry changes in order to ensure that they are receiving feedback loops where they are available.

What is a Receiver?

Sender Score Certified uses the term Receiver to identify entities that access the whitelist. A Receiver can be an ISP, a corporate domain, or any entity that process incoming email.

What is a Whitelist?

Sender Score Certified uses the term whitelist to identify the list of IP addresses that have been certified to meet the program standards. Receivers access the whitelist while processing inbound email and where the sending IP address is also listed on the whitelist, the Receiver can be assured that the sender meets program requirements.

What is Sender Score Reputation Monitor?

Sender Score Reputation Monitor is an email reputation management system. Sender Score Reputation Monitor aggregates more than 60 different data elements from email receivers to compile a composite reputation score for every sender of commercial email today. Data covering more than 40 million email boxes across filtering companies and ISPs, among others, is analyzed to report back reputation information across numerous indices. More information about Sender Score Reputation Monitor is available at http://www.senderscore.com.

What is SpamCop?

SpamCop is a spam reporting service. Senders who mail to spam trap addresses or generate complaints among the SpamCop member community are identified through this service.

To maintain the effectiveness of their program, SpamCop does not provide the address of the member who complained about the mail or of the SpamCop spam trap address. Return Path can, however, verify that complaints were lodged by unique individuals and can provide you with the Subject Line of the email about which the complaint was lodged.

SpamCop also provides a feedback loop. To sign-up, go to http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/94.html.

For more information about SpamCop, go to their website at http://www.spamcop.net.

What is Sender Base?

We use SenderBase (http://www.senderbase.org) and Sender Score Reputation Monitor (http://www.senderscore.com) to measure email volumes. SenderBase is a large email monitoring network which tracks more than 25% of the world's email traffic, from 75,000 participating organizations.

What is Authentication and how do I Implement Sender ID?

Senders are required to publish a Sender ID compliant SPF record for all domains from which email is sent. To request a copy of our Email Authentication Guide, contact us at standards@sendercorecertified.com.