Most everyone knows that when you break the rules in email marketing, you get labelled as a spammer and your IP address gets blacklisted.
Recently, however, ISPs have begun to permanently blacklist domains, not just IP addresses. That makes your web address unusable for email.
The spammers, always a step ahead, figured they could get around this by using URL shortening services like TinyURL and bit.ly.
In general, URL shorteners are great tools that serve a good purpose, but spammers have abused the heck out of them to disguise their (already blacklisted) links.
In response, the spam filters have begun to heavily penalize email messages that include shortened URLs. They also ìclickî all shortened URLs in an email, just to follow redirects from URL shorteners, and analyze the landing page they take you to. The unintended consequence this has had for some mailers is thousands of mistakenly unsubscribed users.
So, what should responsible mailers do?
If you are committed to using shortened URLs (perhaps you have a large number of mobile subscribers), seriously consider installing your own URL shortening scheme. It's not technically difficult and will not alert the spam filters.
For information on how to implement your own URL shortening, visit: http://projects.webappsec.org/URL-Redirector-Abuse. For help with your email marketing program contact us by visiting our web site at www.ontargetinteractive.com.
written by nO33Krista , February 20, 2010