Check your contacts and segments against the Global suppression list

Learn how to compare and revise your contacts and segments against the Global suppression list.

Overview

The Global suppression list (GSL) is a collection of known bad email addresses and domains, including ISP spam complainants.

You can use the Global suppression list to revise your entire contact list by comparing your contacts or segments against it. We'll automatically suppress any problematic addresses known to us, cutting down on the number of complaints you might otherwise receive.

Before you start

Things you need to know:

• Only sign up legitimate contacts. The Global Suppression List cannot fix all the problems on an unhealthy contact list.
• Global suppression list suppressions can’t be undone easily. Recovery takes time and incurs a cost.
  

  To learn more, check out the section Global Suppression List recovery.

Revise your contacts against the Global Suppression List

To compare and revise your contacts against the Global Suppression List:

1. Go to Email > Contacts > Suppressed contacts.
2. Select the tab Global suppression list.
3. Select Run GSL. All of your contacts are compared to the Global Suppression List and, once complete, you see a report.
4. The report shows the number of contacts found on the Global suppression list and for what reason.
5. Clear the check boxes for any groups you don't want to suppress.
   

   To learn about the report reasons and their definitions, check out the section Report definitions.

6. When ready, select YES. The selected groups will be unsubscribed. These contacts then appear on your suppressed contacts list.

Revise a segment against the Global Suppression List

To compare and revise your segment against the Global Suppression List:

1. Go to Email > Contacts > Segments.
2. Select the check box for the segment you want to compare.
3. Expand the MORE ACTIONS drop-down menu, and select Check selected contacts against Global suppression list. All of your contacts are compared to the Global suppression list and, once complete, you see a report.
4. The report shows the number of contacts found against the Global suppression list and for what reason.
   

   To learn about the report reasons and their definitions, check out the section Report definitions.

   
5. Clear the check boxes for any groups you don't want to suppress.
6. Select YES. The selected groups will be unsubscribed. These contacts then appear on your suppressed contacts list.

Report definitions

The report provides a number of reasons for the global suppression of email addresses and domains. Here are their definitions:

Reason	Definition
Known hard bounces	These are email addresses that have resulted in a hard bounce. These email addresses are known to our system via internal machine learning and third-party data feeds.
Known ISP complainers	These are email recipients who've exhibited an unusually high number of ISP complaints. ISP complaints are caused by a recipient reporting received an email to their inbox provider as a spam/junk message. When a recipient has decided to classify a message as spam/junk via their inbox provider's UI, they click the spam/junk button. This is considered a complaint. Several inbox providers allow visibility of this information through the employment of these feedback loops. Feedback loops allow our system to receive messages back from mailbox providers about recipients who've complained. These recipients are known to our system through the application of complaint feedback loops.
Known direct complainers	These are email recipients who've exhibited an unusually high number of direct abuse complaints. Direct complaints occur when recipients complain directly to us about a received message which they consider unsolicited (spam). Direct complainers may also use third party reporting methods such as SpamCop.net, JunkEmailFilter.com and other spam reporting organisations, including the Federal Trade Commission. These complaints are typically received via our abuse@ or postmaster@ email addresses.
Invalid domains	These are domains that don't have a valid MX record and therefore can't receive email. Additionally, an invalid domain could be what is known as a 'parked domain' - a domain which has been purchased, but not used for anything. Often, spam trap operators will set up MX records and report all received email as spam trap hits. These domains are known to our system via internal machine learning and third-party data feeds.
Known purchased addresses	These are email recipients who have appeared on known purchased email lists. Although these recipients appear on purchased lists, they can often be legitimate email addresses who may have explicitly opted in to receive email. It's not uncommon to see several recipients on a legitimate, permission-based list which has never been contaminated with purchased, rented or appended data. These known purchased addresses are known to our system via a third-party data feed provided by a security company.
Known complainer	These are email recipients who've exhibited public anti-spam abuse complaints, typically through the use of popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They generally post public statements about receiving unsolicited mail from organisations on their social media profiles (public shaming). These recipients are known to our system via an external data feed provided by a third-party security company.
Known litigator	These are email recipients who are known to have entered into litigation with email senders over the receipt of unsolicited commercial email. A known litigator is a recipient who targets senders of commercial bulk email in an attempt to profit from the winnings of legal proceedings. These recipients are known to our system via a third-party data feed.

 

Global Suppression List recovery

Once an email address has been suppressed using the GSL, it can't be undone. We implement this in the interests of email anti-abuse best practice, which takes into account constraints around suppressions and the serious impact of direct complaints on sending reputation.

If you have no option other than to request the reversal of email addresses suppressed via the GSL, you'll need to open a request with our support team. The removal process will include an initial analysis by our anti-abuse and compliance team to ensure there's no risk of reintroducing unsafe email addresses. Once cleared, our support team will then add the approved email address(es) back to your list. Due to the amount of time and effort required to complete this process, a cost will be incurred.