There comes a time when for an unexplained cause the traffic to their pages or the deliverability of emails starts falling but cannot be associated to anything with online business owners and email marketers. This could be as a result of several things including search engine indexing problems among others. But sometimes marketers may wonder, is my IP blacklisted?

One way in which cybercriminals are stopped from abusing client-private systems via bogus or unsolicited messages is through IP blacklisting. Systems are created by organizations to watch out for communication between company secured networks and all other outside IP addresses.

Gmail and Microsoft are examples of email service providers who may have access to these blacklists, enabling them to mark emails associated with these IPs as junk or spam automatically in their subscribers’ inboxes. In general, owners of blacklisted IPs observe a considerable decrease in email penetration rates, which has an adverse impact on the reputation of the source and efforts to market it.

Despite the fact that IP blacklisting is largely advantageous for security purposes in online businesses, customers and vulnerable data; there are occasions when an IP address happens to be misplaced in terms of being tagged as malicious. To assist marketers comprehend this intricate matter better, here is a comprehensive manual that shows how to recognize, manage and avert unintentional blacklisting your IP address.

The Punishments of an IP on the Blacklist

When one is an IP address holder, they are able to use different ways to know if their IP has been blacklisted by some organizations. While a lot of people think all email service providers get their IP blacklist information from one centre or centre agent, there are many different kinds of IP blacklists used today. Some lists hurt holders of these special codes more than others.

The most reputable IP black lists damaging email delivery include:

• Spamhaus
• SpamCop
• Barracuda
• Domain Name System Blacklist (DNSBL)
• Passive Spam Block List (PSBL)
• Invaluement

Email marketers may ask themselves, “Is my IP blacklisted?” The easiest way to do this is by finding the IP address of your email server and inputting that one or more of the aforementioned IP blacklist sites. From the search results, you will determine if these services have flagged your IP as suspicious or not.

Your IP has been blacklisted by a reliable source; possible ramifications include:

Getting Emails Not Delivered

No matter how pressing your email message may seem at the time, don’t waste your breath; if it came from an IP that was once blacklisted by some bloody provider, it will not find its way in someone’s inbox, but rather in the trash bin. When an IP address holder sends an email through a blacklisted server, he/she would receive immediately after tellingly referred to messages called bounce messages after which such a person decides to compare the names with those on Google blacklists service list and URL Links.

High of emails flagged as spam servers

Most likely, any messages from such an address would land directly on the junk folder because major email providers like Google and Microsoft see blacklisted IPs as potential sources of spam. So if you have clients who happen not to receive your emails from them there is no way beyond saying anything about it furthermore there is no other specific message except for those saying this mail has been filtered out due daringly visible mails through people’s insights.

Significant reputational damage

Companies associated with blacklisted IPs can suffer significant reputational damage, as all emails sent from official accounts will be at risk of being marked as suspicious. If customers associate your brand with spam, your company’s credibility and reputation will be adversely affected, with 70% of email users believing spam negatively impacts their online experience.

Wider business communication issues

Emails sent from blacklisted IP addresses are not only less likely to reach potential clients, but may also be sent to junk mail inboxes associated with existing customers and internal employees. At present, it’s believed around 61% of internet users deploy some form of spam filter intended to automatically block suspicious emails, potentially hindering wider business communications for any entities that find their IP address wrongfully linked to an IP blacklist.

Reputational Loss

Reputation has a high price tag for companies linked to blacklisted IPs; emails sent and received from official accounts are always being eyed with suspicion. Your business will be tarnished if customers relate it to spam because human ignorance, says that unsolicited messages make 70 % of email users feel like they are being cheated online.

Broader Business Communication Problems

It is hard for emails coming out of blacklisted IP addresses to reach potential customers; sometimes they do not even get beyond existing clients’ junk mailbox and internal workers’ spam folders. At the moment, around 61% of internet users are thought to use some sort of anti-spam filter which is intended to automatically reject spam-like messages otherwise known as junk or unwanted e-mails thereby limiting any chance to broaden business interactions if an entity inadvertently finds itself listed together with other entities categorized as such by themselves due to error in listing their own site’s unique identifiers.

It has been noted that, although various IP blacklisting services have their own criteria for identifying suspicious accounts (most are not revealed), some of the reasons are widely accepted by digital communication specialists. For marketers who often wonder whether their IP’s are blacklisted or not, it is advisable to establish if any of these instances apply to one’s internet protocol address.

Promotion through excessive email

Email marketers who continually send large quantities of identical messages to many different non-related accounts could be perceived as fraudsters and hence be flagged by internet service providers. The chances of your IP address being blacklisted will increase if spammers pay attention, such behaviour or if many recipients report you to their own email servers as a junk mail sender.

Instances used as examples on how spam-like looks like according to IP blacklisting services include:

• Sudden spikes in sending volume: If there are any major changes in how many people you send an email, it might be perceived as suspect by service providers and sites that keep track of list blackening.
•  Hyperlinks to dubious internet resources in correspondence letters: Besides IPs records, domain names can be blacklisted too. Therefore, attaching hyperlinks pointing at currently suspended domains located on blacklist(s) into an email's text may prompt blacklisting network engineers to tag your IP with unwanted actions taking place there.
• Exceeding average dispatch limits: Usually, most email vendors impose a limitation per day on emails an individual user can send within conference (usually 500-1,000). Breaching that boundary would make a provider suspect your address before they know whether you’re guilty Action needed help or not.

Emails directed to non-existent accounts

Organizations that send large volumes of messages to invalid or otherwise inactive email addresses may find their providers flagging isps associated with them as dubious. If your recipients ignore your messages or you have several emails bouncing from their intended addresses, it could mean that you are acting like a spammer. This may lead to your IP being blacklisted. To avoid such scenarios, marketers should ensure that all newly acquired mailing lists are cleared of dead accounts.

Misconfigured email server

Email marketers must put in place various authentication protocols to block fake emails from their servers due to the misuse of such accounts by unauthorized senders. Out dated protocols such as DKIM, SPF and DMARC might allow unscrupulous corporations to send out “spam” emails through otherwise genuine IP addresses resulting into the possibility of IP address blacklisting.

Vulnerabilities in Cybersecurity

The internet is always being monitored by blacklisting service operators for IP addresses associated with malware, phishing scams and data breaches. Hacking activities can result in blacklisting if organizational websites or emails are not sufficiently secured with multi-factor authentication mechanisms and other cybersecurity tools.

Furthermore, when migrating cloud data warehouses, care must be taken to keep sensitive information safe and prevent potential exposure of your IP to blacklisting threats during the actual transfer process.

Identify IP Blacklisting

Regardless of whether or not people suspect their IP(s) may be blacklisted due to abnormal website traffic drops or reduced email delivery rates, it is prudent to frequently check blacklists for the said IP address. The main reason for this is that compromised addresses do not always impact operations immediately hence early detection can save your reputation.

Monitoring IP Reputation

The delivery of messages from your computer is governed by how well you are perceived by internet providers and e-mail services using the same addresses as you do. A bad reputation means that most of your messages sent over e-mail would be marked as spam. Fortunately, there are several reliable ways through which one can monitor their personal IP reputation if they know where to look for their account’s corresponding IP data.

To find out the IP address used on your computer, just open up any message received via an email service provider’s account and go into its header section. Within this should be found a part called “Received-SPF” or “Authentication-Results”, as well as the next 12 digits written in this format:

000.000.000.000

According to these details, there are several online IP reputation checker tools that can assist you in determining how your IP status appears to other providers. Here are some reputable services for checking IP reputation:

• Sender Score
• Talos
• Reputation Authority
• Trusted Source
• Barracuda Central

How to check if your IP is blacklisted

In addition to always checking your IP reputation, it’s equally important to check IP blacklisting sites so as to find out whether or not your address has been flagged as dubious. If you’re an email marketer and ask yourself, “Is my IP blacklisted?”, use any of the following resources by entering your IP address:

• MXToolbox
• Barracuda
• SORBS
• DNSBL
• DNS Checker

A solution for the blacklisted IP

In case your IP was classified as blacklisted by any of the previously mentioned IP monitoring or blacklist checking tools, it is time to act on it promptly so as to save yourself the blame. Below is an easy step-by-step procedure for remediation of IP blacklists tailored to assist you.

1. Determining the source of the issue

Most blacklist operators will ask for the owners’ of IP addresses to rectify identified problems before they are going to be taken off their lists. Hence, organizations ought to quickly deduce the likely reason for their problems. The easiest way out is by running your IP through some few reliable IP checkers and looking at different platforms at the reasons listed as to why an IP has been blacklisted.

It is common that IP checking tools give you a probable cause of blacklisting; however, checking results from different sites will help you home in on what you are looking for.

2. Clean up your mailing lists

If during your checking of IP addresses, there is a suspected cause pointing towards undeliverable emails or messages sent to invalid addresses or indeed if a high number of mails marked as spam by own initiative are being sent out; cleaning up email addresses can be leveraged to bring about a solution. Scrutinize the mailing list so that it can be revealed any account which does not open up letters from one’s inbox while also dealing with frequent bouncing addresses in question within this same context. Also, allow easier unsubscribe options for recipients in order to minimize any self-reported spam incidences.

3. Tech Issues Should be Resolved

If the technical issues are caused IP blacklisting than you can repair these common servers based problems. Inconsistencies in DNS records and SMTP banners could lead your IP being blacklisted, along with viruses or malware infection. So you will prefer removing them before requesting the blacklist removal.

4. Request for De-listing

Once you’re sure that the cause of your IP blacklisting has been resolved, and then you can go ahead and send a formal request through which you want to have it removed from its current blacklists. This task is influenced by whether it is self-serviced or automated.

• Self-service: To request removal from the blacklist, visit the domain of the blacklisting service and fill out their internal form. You will need to write why your IP was added to the list of suspicious’ computer addresses in detail as well as show proof that you’ve solved it; then a representative will analyse your situation and react appropriately.
• Automated: As above, but you just check the blacklist after a week or two for deletion.

Preventing future IP blacklisting

Sadly enough, even if one removes his/her IP address from blacklisting websites, he/she does not guarantee that he/she will never get blacklisted again. Lots of organizations develop and enforce several smart policies and better methods on this issue usually to avoid being blacklisted.

If you want to stop asking “Is my IP Blacklisted?”, consider these common practices.

Established a specified electronic mail IP address

There exists an issue where firms that utilize common e-mail transmitting points might suffer image issues caused by unrelated message dispatchers’ wrong ideas. Despite the cost of installing an individual e-mail IP address being high, doing so will give companies more command over their image.

Be knowledgeable on new dangers to avert them

Regularly, check the log file for the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses identified with recognized malicious activities or blacklisted websites; Such as integrating threat intelligence feeds into your logging solution to automatically tag dubious IPs.

Comply with mass mailing guidelines

Most internet service providers view mass mailing as spamming or scamming. However, it is a must for marketing via emails. To make sure your campaign doesn’t seem dubious, keep the following best practices in mind:

• Update and review your email lists regularly, eliminate any addresses that bounce back often or appear to be invalid from all lists.
• Check if there are any issues with DNS accounts, ensure your email authentication mechanisms like DMARC, SPF AND DKIM are not out-dated or incorrect, and plan to perform checks regularly.
• Make sure it’s easy for anyone who receives one of your emails to unsubscribe as this will go a long way in reducing users’ chances of reporting those messages as junk.
• Refrain from using spam-enhancing words and phrases too much in emails such as “cash”, “be your own boss”, “giveaway”, ”once in a lifetime” and “promotion”. Using an email copy generator should help you create persuasive content without triggering spam filters.
• Do not write many links in the main body of the email or link to disallowed websites; be careful about hyperlinks before putting them in order to be certain that IPs won’t get blacklisted inadvertently

Your IP stance should be frequently checked.

It is essential to create plans for regular surveillance and upkeep of one’s IP reputation by commencing with regularly searching it using the reputable IP checker tools every week once you feel good about it. Assign one or more of your team members to assume this responsibility and compile their findings into a report that is consistently reviewed.

Train your staff continuously

Train everyone in this company on how to do email the right way, and make sure they revise their tasks for signs of potential spam. Construct manuals containing normal spamming words, a list of recognized blacklisted websites, and ways to validate false e-mails. Make these manuals available on internal systems, utilize them in your coaching tools, and run frequent workshops.

A surprising quantity of email marketers and commercial organizations are affected by IP blacklisting. Your IP address might be suspicious to some Internet or email service providers. If this happens, your campaigns will not go through.

To stop spam or malware from disturbing people on the Internet, there are several ways through which IP blacklisting services decide on whether IPv4s are risky. Unfortunately, if you don’t follow the best practices, some legit ones may be mistakenly included in the bad list. Therefore, it is important to keep reviewing emails and email lists for common problems so as not to have an IP blocked.

A marketer might ask him/herself “is my IP blacklisted?”. Marketers should avoid using spam words when reaching out; constantly checking their IP reputation; routinely updating their emails’ authentication processes and always training their personnel. These measures can help prevent blacklists among other things.