For decades, the industry has used the term “blacklist” to refer to IP addresses that have sent spam or domain names included in spammy email, but that’s not really what these lists are. Aside from other issues with the term “Blacklist” (ahem, thank you James Spader) it really is not the most appropriate. Let’s examine the real definitions for email:
Blocklist/Blacklist
A list of IP addresses or domains that should not be trusted because the IP address has sent email to a spam trap, sent email repeatedly marked as spam or may be misconfigured in such a way to encourage spam or other nefarious activity. Domains listed have been included in spam emails or are known to host malware.
Note: MxToolbox is not a blacklist/blocklist. We are not blocking your email, but curate a list of blocklists to provide information about who has listed your IP address or domain as problematic. In some cases, we can help you get delisted, but, in general, you’ll need to work with the blocklist to be removed. There are details on how to be delisted on the Problem Details page for each blocklist. As always, DO NOT PAY to be delisted.
Allow-list/Whitelist
A list of IP addresses that are highly trusted. This is usually used for VPNs, internal traffic, etc. where that IP address should always be allowed.
Note: When dealing with Blocklists, do not ask to be “Whitelisted” as you are not completely trusted. Ask to be “Delisted” and be prepared to prove that you have fixed the issue that caused your IP to be listed.
De-list/Greylist
If you are not 100% trusted, or not mistrusted by being blocklisted, then you are unlisted, or as some would say, “greylisted”. In reality, no company is going to go through the exercise of listing every single IP address that is not Blocklisted or Allowed, so those IP’s are simply unlisted, but still not 100% trusted. Typically, email from an unlisted IP goes through a multi-step process to determine if the email should be allowed in the inbox.
MxToolbox Aids Email Delivery
Focus on the basics of Email Delivery: Technologies like SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and Best Practices in email list management and content relevance. Once your DMARC configuration is really set, then issues like blacklisting are actually more rare and less damaging to your email delivery. Get started today with MxToolbox Delivery Center to get to the Inbox.