{"id":4504,"date":"2017-06-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/what-to-do-if-youve-been-blacklisted\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T15:56:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T19:56:27","slug":"what-to-do-if-youve-been-blocklisted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/what-to-do-if-youve-been-blocklisted","title":{"rendered":"What to Do If You\u2019ve Been Blocklisted"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your worst deliverability nightmare, realized: You\u2019ve been blocklisted. While this can negatively impact your ability to reach your subscriber\u2019s inbox, it\u2019s not the end of the world\u2014if you take active steps to address it.<\/p>\n

Being blocklisted is more common than you might think. In our 2017 State of Email Survey<\/a>, 15.1% of marketers said their companies\u2019 marketing emails had been blocklisted during the past 12 months. And, surprisingly, marketers who described their email programs as successful were pretty much just as likely as other programs to be blocklisted (15.0% vs. 16.5%).<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll walk through what a blocklist is, how to know if you\u2019ve been blocklisted, and ways you can take steps to improve your deliverability and get off a blocklist.<\/p>\n

What does being blocklisted mean?<\/h2>\n

Also known as blocklists, blocklists are lists of IP addresses and or sending domains that are seen as malicious spammers. They can be maintained by inbox providers like Gmail or third-party services like Spamhaus. Blocklists may utilize a combination of spam traps<\/a>, spam complaints, and other proprietary data sources as criteria for adding someone to a blocklist.<\/p>\n

What types of blocklists already exist?<\/h2>\n

There are two main types of blocklists, IP-based and domain-based.<\/p>\n

An IP-based blocklist<\/strong> is a real-time collection of sending IPs that sent spam or other types of email abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIPs\u201d refers to IP addresses, which is a number that uniquely identifies any device connected to the internet. \u201cIP\u201d stands for \u201cInternet Protocol.\u201d Similar to how a street address helps people find buildings, an IP address helps computers find each other on the internet. Sending IPs can indicate who or what device sent a particular email communication.<\/p>\n

A domain blocklist (DBL)<\/strong> is a real-time collection of sending domains that have sent spam or other types of email abuse.<\/p>\n

Similar to an IP Address, domain names refer to locations of servers and devices connected to the internet. Domain names can represent a whole bunch of different IP addresses. For example, the domain www.litmus.com would address the collection of servers that host our website. Whether that is www.litmus.com\/blog or www.litmus.com\/community, the domain is the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are hundreds of blocklists out there, but it\u2019s extremely important to note that not all of them are created equal. Some listings, such as the ones from Spamhaus, are taken seriously by almost every inbox provider out there, which means you can expect a great deal of your mail to be blocked or delivered to the junk folder when your IPs or domains are present on their blocklists.<\/p>\n

Other listings have little to no validity within the industry and will have essentially zero effect on deliverability. Others still actually charge you for delisting! Be very wary of these services, and do some research to find out if they are legit before you fork over any cash.\u201d \u2014Lauren Meyer, VP of Delivery & Head of North American Operations at Mailjet<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Stay off the blocklist<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Sender Certification boosts inbox placement and shows MBPs you meet the highest sending standards.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t