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I have a new problem:
Backgrounder:
I manage a website for an association of professionals. I send out weekly newsletters (with attachments - mostly pdf files) to all members of this association. All the members are registered and have agreed to receive such emails - they also have the option to unsubscribe anytime they wish. Also any member of this association can send emails to all other members through an interface in the site. All the members' details including their emails are stored in a database.
The problem:
My webmail accounts have recently been blocked by the hosting provider. They say it is because a large number of emails are being sent from these accounts in a short time span. To quote them:
"...If you are sending more than 30 mails at a time in one hour it will be considered as bulk / spam mails. Due to this spam mailing there may be a chance to block our server IP by the spam controller databases.
Please confirm that again you will not send more than 30 mails in one hour. So that, I can request the technical team to check the issue..."
The Code:
I use the following ASP code to send these mails:
<%
Dim Conn
dim rsmail, strsql, i
Dim objCDOMail
Set Conn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set rsmail = server.createobject("adodb.recordset")
Conn.Open "DSN=<DSN Name>"
strsql = "SELECT * FROM <Table> where <Condition>"
rsmail.open strsql, conn,1,3
for i=0 to rsmail.recordcount-1
Set objCDOMail = Server.CreateObject("persits.mailsender")
objCDOMail.Host = "mail.<domain>"
objCDOMail.IsHTML = True
objCDOMail.From = "WebMaster@<Domain>"
objCDOMail.AddAddress rsmail("email")
objCDOMail.AddAttachment Server.Mappath("/<file path>")
objCDOMail.Subject = "<Subject>"
objCDOMail.Body = "<body>...</body>"
objCDOMail.username="webmaster@<domain>"
objCDOMail.password="<password>"
strErr = ""
bSuccess = False
On Error Resume Next
objCDOMail.Send
response.write "Mail sent to " & rsmail("Firstname") & " " & rsmail("Lastname") & ".<BR>"
If Err <> 0 Then
strErr = Err.Description
else
bSuccess = True
End If
Set objCDOMail = Nothing
rsmail.movenext
next
rsmail.close
conn.close
set rsmail = nothing
set conn = nothing
%>Request
Can you guys please guide me how to modify the code so that i can introduce a time delay between two receipients of my newsletter in order to respect the 30 mails/hour guideline?
Thanks and regards,
Joy B.
Get a new host!
I would be interested in knowing who you host with right now, but, that should be sent as a sticky to comply with WW terms.
278 emails per month is nothing!
Most of my clients send that many out per day, often many more. My host doesn't give a hoot. Sometimes AOL blocks them, such is AOL, a phone call usually fixes that issue.
Email marketing in most industries is not necessary. In mine where the market changes daily is it vital. Any host that can't appreciate why shouldn't be a host you want to use!
He was suggesting that you send a sticky mail with your hosts' URL in it.
He also mentioned that 278 emails being sent is a low number. I agree. No way should a host give you a hard time for 278 emails in a month, a week, a day, or even an hour. Most good hosting providers won't even consider 500 emails too many for any given day.
So you MIGHT want to speak with a supervisor at your ISP (get their name!) to work this out with them so there are no surprises and that you play by their rules. Or as others have suggested, get a new ISP.
Nonetheless, I think it's always a good practice to give your ISP a heads up if something you are doing might raise a red flag, so they will also know how to respond to abuse reports by people who feel they were being spammed. But if it's not an opt-in email list, you may very well be on your own. :)
//Gary
