Repost from Pivotal IQ Blog

Yesterday, Goodmail announced that it launched the industry’s first 3rd party domain-based whitelist, called CertifiedDomain. We had a couple of questions for the Goodmail team and here’s what we found out, straight from the source:

1. Authentication Required. Before looking up a domain on CertifiedDomain, a receiver must confirm the message was indeed sent from the domain it purports to. Goodmail is agnostic as to what authentication method is used. It could be DKIM, Sender ID Framework, SPF, DomainKeys, or anything else.
2. Goodmail’s Whitelist is Publicly Available for ISP Use. The basic CertifiedDomain list is publicly available to anyone on the planet and can be used by receivers (ISPs and businesses) to help them in their email filtering. These receivers are not required to ask for Goodmail’s prior permission or even inform them that they are consulting the CertifiedDomain list. Goodmail says it expects the basic list to be used extremely widely. Goodmail also says that a more comprehensive list is licensed to ISPs, but the company does not publicize these agreements. Not all ISPs who accept CertifiedEmail have the technology to filter incoming messages based on domains yet, but ultimately Goodmail expects all its ISP partners to consult the CertifiedDomain list. It also anticipates that not partners such as enterprise networks/B2B etc will consult with the new whitelist. 
3. You CAN Get Booted Off the List. If Goodmail’s get data from its partners or other evidence showing a domain is no longer worthy of being listed, Goodmail will remove the domain from the list. Goodmail says it might publish a specific AUP for CertifiedDomain, but until it does, adherence to the existing CertifiedEmail AUP is recommended. 
4. Image Blocking Benefits are the ISPs’ Prerogative. At this stage, Goodmail is not aware of any ISP that intends to turn on images solely because of the inclusion of a domain on a whitelist, but says it is likely that ISPs which selectively turn images on will consider the inclusion of a domain on the CertifiedDomain list as a positive input to this message-by-message decision. Each ISP will set its own policy and will assign its own weight to the inclusion of a domain on the CertifiedDomain list. 
5. Fee Structure. There’s a onetime accreditation fee but, as specified in the Terms & Conditions document for CertifiedDomain, Goodmail might charge an annual renewal fee and might introduce other fees in the future.
6. CertifiedDomain Can’t Help You if Your Connection is Dropped. The first line of defense of all ISPs is blocking at the IP address level (refusing a connection), and CertifiedDomain won’t help there. CertifiedDomain is helpful only once a message has been accepted and authenticated by the ISP, when the ISP is looking for multiple inputs to its filtering algorithm.
7. rDNS and WHOis Not Required, But Recommended. Goodmail doesn’t impose such technical requirements as a precondition to being listed on CertifiedDomain. However, an ISP sophisticated enough to validate the authentication of incoming messages and to consult the CertifiedDomain list is also likely to perform such checks and to use the results of these checks as yet another set of inputs to their algorithm.

Cheers!

-Len Shneyder
Director of Partner Relations
& Industry Communications
www.pivotalveracity.com

If email marketers could set the rules for ISPs, what would be different? What would be the characteristics of DreamMail, the ISP of our dreams? (note: there is no connection between this imaginary ISP and any of Epsilon Interactive's various products).

• DreamMail would verify incoming messages with both Sender ID and DKIM. Email marketers would feel safe that no one is forging email and hurting their reputation or deliverability.
  
• Images and links would always be enabled in DreamMail. No one would ever open an email message only to see broken HTML and links. Using images to track opens would be a reliable metric.
  
• Flash and video would work in DreamMail. No longer limited to animated gifs, email would now contain rich media, streaming video, and interactive flash applications.
  
• HTML and CSS would render just like web pages in DreamMail. There would be no more coding a different version with different rules for email. We could use the same modern editing tools and best practices for emails as we do for the web.
  
• JavaScript would execute in DreamMail just like on web pages. This would allow for AJAX and dynamic content inside the email and enable traditional web analytics to integrate with email campaigns.
  
• Forms would work within DreamMail. Rather than always linking to a landing page, we could have a call to action within the email itself and gather responses directly. Combine this with AJAX for email dashboards and control panels.
  
• There would always be clear bounce messages from DreamMail. If a message did not get delivered, we would receive immediate and obvious feedback that followed RFC standards.
  
• DreamMail would have a feedback loop that uses the standard Abuse Reporting Format (ARF). If any recipients clicked the Spam button, the sender would receive an immediate email notification.
  
• DreamMail would provide an Unsubscribe button to users. If the message had a good reputation and contained a List-Unsubscribe header, DreamMail would display an Unsubscribe button to its users.
  
• Registered senders could verify sends, bounces, opens, clicks, spam complaints similar to Microsoft SNDS. It would be easy to verify how much email was sent and what actually got delivered. This information would be available as an XML feed as well.
  
• DreamMail would have a great website that explained how to get good delivery and how to contact them if there is a problem.
  
• DreamMail would proactively notify us of problems and recommend solutions.
  
• DreamMail would have a responsive staff that was available via email or phone.
  

What else would DreamMail, the ISP of your dreams do? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Anne Mitchell of ISIPP posts "How the Email Deliverability Accreditation and Reputation Industry is Eating Itself Alive" a screed about how some in the space are dissing the competition to make sales.

While some negatives are inevitable in comparison shopping materials provided by sales types, this type of thing reminds me of something a boss of mine once said: Referring at the time to the small amount of money we had to divvy up among the various departments under his control, he quipped 'when the water runs out, the animals around the watering hole look at one another differently'.

Quite so. I have to wonder if such desperate tactics are brought about by a monetary compression at a given firm, or if they speak to portended industry health. Actually, I tend towards the former explanation rather than the latter; I don't think email has anything to fear, indeed, it is probably a growth area in a receding market. While all indicators for the over-all economy may be downwards trending, as the cost of travel increases, and face-to-face becomes ever more dear, surely the ability to communicate from afar will become ever more valuable.

Derek Harding gives a historical run-down on Whitelisting, with the money-quote being:

In short, whitelisting is a useful and important tool, it may even be a necessity in some cases. However, it's not a substitute for good list hygiene and adherence to best practices and standards. It's not a panacea. Being whitelisted will not make your old and tired list suddenly perform well.