How Google (or Exchange) know you're a spammer?

Ever wondered how Gmail (or Outlook) picks out spam emails from your inbox? Well, my partner posed this question to me today, and it got my gears turning. The answer is quite intriguing, and I believe it's worth sharing. We've been considering making a new newsletter just for marketing practitioners, and so, here we are with the first Friday edition - spammer emails!

Google and Exchange employ three key strategies to fish out those pesky spam and phishing emails.

Firstly, they scrutinize the "technical wrapper" of the email. In simpler terms, they validate the technical details of an email to ensure it's truly originating from the claimed source. Any discrepancy here raises an immediate red flag. For tech aficionados, this includes missing SPF, DKIM, DMARC, spoofed headers, duplicated message IDs, and more.

Secondly, they analyze the message context. Spam emails have a distinct language, a unique pitch style. Even legitimate emails can be mistaken for spam if they contain typical spammy phrases. For instance, "quick question" in the subject line has been so exploited by spammers that it may land a genuine email into spam. Google and Exchange also scan your emails for any suspicious words hinting at phishing attempts. Email servers, armed with a basic form of logic, search for these context clues. As AI technology advances, we can expect AI engines to take over this rule-based context analysis.

Lastly, they look for signs of marketing activities and cross-check these against sender reputation indicators. One such sign is the tracking pixel, not usually found in normal emails. Factors like IP sender reputation and domain aging are then correlated. That's why marketers 'warm-up' their emails and maintain a clean IP address.

In the face of AI sophistication and the surge in AI-generated emails, these filters can only get stricter. The trick to avoiding the spam folder or ensuring your email is delivered at all boils down to three things:

1. Authenticity. Have a real domain, authenticate correctly, and don't spam the market with emails.
2. Relevance. Take time to research and target your cold email recipients. Make your emails valuable.
3. Moderation. Don't overwhelm the scene with your emails. Be strategic with your initial entry and follow-up.

In the coming months, I'll be diving deep into AI software, conducting more campaign activity than I have in the past four years. While I'm thrilled about the automation potential AI holds, I also fear its misuse. Misused AI could lead to even genuine emails being dumped into the spam bin and the sender blocked. Only time will tell how this experiment unfolds. Brace yourselves, because the world of emails is about to get more interesting!