Validation & Verification Unlocking the Mystery

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1 Validation & Verification Unlocking the Mystery Synthio.com

2 Validation: Unlocking the Mystery When It Misses the Mark While many businesses offer validation services, it s important to know the strengths and weaknesses associated with them. validation has proven its ability to fix typos and verify domain names, resulting in a clean list. However, a verified domain name doesn t guarantee the address owner is the correct person. Here s how a clean list can miss the mark. Existence Vs. Permission It does nothing to verify the permission of the recipient to accept a subscription, which is the most important step in avoiding spam Just this past April, the Spamhaus Project revealed their thoughts on validation services, issuing an enlightening concept--just because it works, doesn t mean it s right. They started with the objective of validation--to determine whether an address exists, thus avoiding undeliverable messages. Then they looked beyond the surface, finding that just because validation services can determine whether or not an address exists, doesn t mean it s open for business. Spamhaus dissected a weakness of validation in regards to the naming convention, explaining, It does nothing to verify the permission of the recipient to accept a subscription, which is the most important step in avoiding spam when acquiring addresses for bulk ing lists, nor does it ensure that the address owner is the same as the person making the transaction. That means that transactional mail like receipts, tickets or vouchers could be sent to the wrong person, yet the address won t bounce because it was verified to exist.

3 Validation: Unlocking the Mystery Catch-All Domains: No Rejection Another way in which validation can fall short is by casting its net too wide. With catch-all domains, also known as acceptall, no matter what someone enters in front of sign (sales@, info@, or jane@), the message will still be delivered without having to configure your server or do anything special. Catch-all servers are a great way to ensure that no messages are lost, for example, if an employee has left or was let go, they are likely still receiving important messages. Catch-all domains are useful for the recipient, but a pain for the sender since catch-all domains will accept anything and you never know if your message actually was delivered to the intended recipient. Originally, part of the allure of catch-all domains was that no domain would be rejected. While useful for those worried about missing important messages due to typos, spammers seized the opportunity. Instead of hunting for user names, spammers could input anything to reach their destination. The result? Catch-all boxes got flooded with spam and weren t usable. Mad.Hatter@Synthio.com Delivery Success! HAHAHAH!

4 Protecting Your Account Validation & Verification When using an validation service, it s important that it uses the appropriate filters and identifies catch-all domains, informing you of how your content is being handled. A good validation process will determine the status of each address. For example: The mail server for this domain accepts the address, but it also implements a catch-all policy. For this reason, it is not possible to determine if a mail account with this name actually exists, without sending a message and waiting for a reply. When looking for an validation vendor, it s important to ensure that they can both validate the naming convention of the but that they can couple that with a more in-depth process to determine the kind of server the recipient has and what the risk assessment is. What is Verification Anyhow? Any business that practices marketing sooner or later finds its list needs a tune-up. Whether to prevent fraudulent sign-ups, decrease bounces, or simply remove old addresses, an verification service is often in order. But what exactly is verification and why is it important? We ll explain what it is, review three commonly used verification practices, and explain the pros and cons of each. Source: Thompson, Chris. On The Dubious Merits of Verification Services. Spamhaus, 30 April Web Access. 3. Sept. 2015

5 Verification: Unlocking the Mystery TOP 3 Verification Practices Maintaining a clean database is essential when it comes to running a successful campaign and often utilizes an verification service. verification identifies and removes invalid domain names, typographical errors, and bad addresses, improving your list s accuracy and validity. 1. Syntax Verification The most basic way to verify an address is to see if the address is valid. That is, if it is syntactically correct. Internet mail protocol standards dictate precisely what the format of each sender address can be, rejecting messages sent that do not meet these standards. Typically, when users receive a syntactically invalid error it s due to a syntax error in the sender s Did you mean: Ashley@example.com? address (such as omitting symbol). TO: Ahsley@example.com! Another invalid format is jane@example. The domain is missing its extension (.com,.org, etc.) While it s possible such an address could be valid for sending over a local network, it can t be used to send over the internet. The benefit of checking the syntax is that you can determine whether or not a string of characters meet the requirements of a valid address. The con? It tells us nothing about whether or not the address actually exists.

6 Validation: Unlocking the Mystery 2. SMTP Verification SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the internet standard for transmission, what we all use to send back and forth. By checking with a potential recipient s server via SMTP, we can often see whether a user for a given address actually exists: SMTP Session :52:11,675 [129] DEBUG SMTP *** END VALIDATION FOR fakeperson@fake .com PROCESSED BY proxy-xxxxxxx :52:11,675 [129] DEBUG SMTP 25 PROCESSES REMAIN ACTIVE :52:11,675 [129] DEBUG SMTP *** STATUS Failed :52:11,736 [51] DEBUG SMTP < The account that you tried to reach does not exist. The benefit of SMTP verification is that it checks syntax and determines if the recipient s domain exists, if there s a mail server associated with the domain. Kickbox blogger, Dan Stevens, finds SMTP is by far the best practice for verification. It is arguably the most accurate way of determining if an address is both syntactically correct, and associated with a real user, explains Stevens, all without actually sending a message to the recipient. While SMTP verification goes beyond Syntax verification, it is not without limitations. Namely, it s not possible to always determine if an exists or not. Stevens explains, Some mail servers, for instance, will always accept a message regardless of the recipient. These domains are know as Accept-All Domains and they behave in this manner specifically to mask what users actually exist at that domain. When selecting an verification or validation provider, be sure that the s come back with a two or three fold analysis. For example, if the naming convention is correct, you then need to know if it is a catch-all server, and finally you need to know if there is any risk associated with the address; knowing that it is an accept-all server does not mean your message will make it to the intended recipient. Choose an verification provider that can match on more than just an address so that you have the highest confidence rating possible before sending an .

7 Validation: Unlocking the Mystery 3. Confirmation Verification The last verification practice is the most involved but it almost always guarantees whether or not a human being is linked to the address in question. Many of us have registered on a favorite shopping site and are soon asked to confirm the address we used. Websites that utilize this practice are savvy in acquiring information. They re able to both confirm that the address used is valid and that you are in fact the person associated with it. While confirmation verification is almost a sure-fire approach, there are a few cons. Stevens explains, For one, if you have an existing list of users, it s perhaps not ideal to send them each an asking them to confirm they exist. Second, sending is expensive. Third, if your mailing list is low quality, you ve effectively spent a lot of money only to get a lot of bounce backs, spam reports, and a nice ding to your mailing reputation. NEW INBOX (1,430) DRAFTS SENT DELETED To: Jane Smith Subject: Thanks for Subscribing! Dear Jane, Thanks for subscribing, now all you have to do is confirm your by clicking below! CONFIRM In conclusion, each verification practice exhibits pros and cons unique to its approach. Which one is best for you relies on your goals, budget, and determining an acceptable margin of error. However, if you decide to go with an verification provider, be sure that they can provide you with an in depth analysis of your s and not just an ambiguous pass or fail. Source: Stevens, Dan. What is Verification? Kickbox, 3 Sept Web Access. 3 Sept

8 About We are a social sourced B2B data provider with the largest and most accurate global contact database that is always refreshing itself in real-time. From origination of new targeted leads to full service appends, we offer the most reliable data solution on the market. Search for new leads using our platform or for existing databases, we will identify inaccurate records and append them with 35+ fields of self-reported attributes like groups, skills, title, and even a validated address, tested with our proprietary validation software Powers Ferry Road, Ste. 650 Marietta, GA Synthio.com