Email Feedback Report for IP

Really AOL, really?

Over the years I have seen remarkable feedback reports from AOL. Everything from obvious user error like newsletters, etc. to bills that the user did not want to receive (but were completely legit), to those "chain letters" telling you that you and your entire family will die painfully unless you forward the message to 200 of your closest friends.

Recently, I saw a feedback report for a read receipt. A READ RECEIPT. Someone sent an email, got the read receipt back and then reported it as spam. That part doesn't surprise me (nothing much does any more), but a provider that has been in business as long as AOL (remember when they "were" the WWW for many Americans?) not having processes in place to deal with a user error this remarkably dumb amazes me.

First, their entire concept of blacklisting IPs is so 1999. It's 2010, use a content scanner!

Second, relying on their users to create an automated IP blacklist for them misplaces the burden onto their customer base, rather than trained techs (who can tell the difference between spam and a read receipt) and simultaneously creates a worse experience for all of their other users when "spam button" happy users wreck the IPBL for everyone else.

Third, if you're going to have an IP blacklist, and it's going to automatically block based on user reports, AT LEAST try to filter out obvious user error. A READ RECEIPT! Their logs show the message leaving, and the message clearly states it's a read receipt, the headers even had the appropriate "notification" message type. AOL, do you really have to make it this easy to poke fun at you?

AOL, I would like to offer my services to you. I'll even do it for half my hourly rate. Just please, please, please revisit this horribly planned out mechanism and get the correct processes in place to handle your spam problems.

While you're at it, could you please fix your outbound spam problems too? How many of your customers are really in Nigeria that know dead rich people with my last name?


-TEA