We told you a few weeks ago that Yahoo has increased security and is now using a spam-fighting authentication tool called DMARC. After a possible recent hack that saw lots of spam and spoofed email sent from AOL accounts, AOL has decided to also implement the same security measure.
The short version: YOU CAN NO LONGER USE AOL.COM ADDRESSES FOR BULK EMAIL.
As a whole, it is not advised to send bulk email from “free” domains like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, Aol, etc. Many anti-spam rule sets have rules specifically that mark emails coming “From” addresses like those as a higher chance of being spam. Up to this point, you were rolling the dice to begin with as to how your email would be treated.
But, now with AOL’s new rule, not only is it not advisable, you can’t. Expect this to become a norm for free email accounts such as those listed above. You can now only send email from an AOL.com address through an AOL.com email server.
If you don’t do so already, we suggest that all campaigns and organizations that send email from NGP and/or VAN use a “business” account address. Not only do you avoid spam rules that might cause your email to not be seen, but you’ll avoid future changes by email service providers like the above.
Brett Schenker 