Understanding spam

Unwanted or unsolicited email and what to do if someone reports you for sending spam

As an email marketer, it's imperative for you to understand what spam is and how it's reported. Sometimes your email can get caught in a spam filter, and sometimes people can report you as someone who sends spam, which can get your account shut down by us. If you get reported as a spammer, we can help you get back on the right track.

• What is spam?
• How does spam get reported?
• How do I check my spam report?
• What to do about spam

What is spam?

Spam is defined as any form of commercial email that is deemed unsolicited by the recipient, regardless of the content. If you have an email account, you've probably received spam. Spam has become such a problem that the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States and CASL in Canada set the basic rules and requirements for all commercial email, as well as penalties for violations. You need to be in compliance with these laws and Constant Contact's acceptable use policy.

How does spam get reported?

Anyone can report an email as spam. It can be as easy as clicking the "This is Spam" or "This is Junk" button in an email client.

People can lodge a complaint to:

• Their internet service provider (ISP), which could result in your emails getting blocked.
• Constant Contact's ISP.
• The listed owner of the IP address the email was sent from.
• Directly to us by calling or emailing Constant Contact.

The public can also report unsolicited email to third-party reporting services, such as SpamCop, which does the analysis and reporting for them.

Your spam report

You'll see the number of people who reported your email as spam on your Email Details page. While you can't see who specifically reported your email as spam, due to privacy restrictions, you can see the number of spam complaints your email received, if it received any. Typically, you shouldn't see more than one spam count per every 1,000 emails sent.

What to do about spam

If your Spam Report is higher than you'd like, we have help for you:

• Read about how you can reduce your spam counts.
• Make sure you're not using phrases that trigger spam filters in your subject line.
• Ask your contacts to add you to their "safe sender" list.
• Help your customers contact their ISP if your emails continue to get caught in their spam filters.
• Make sure security programs have you on their "safelist" (formerly referred to as whitelisting).

Any links we provide from non-Constant Contact sites or information about non-Constant Contact products or services are provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as an endorsement by Constant Contact.

Questions?