E-Mail verification goes to spam filter...

New user with questions about e-mail validation.

[sausalater]

Hi all,

I've been searching this site for a couple hours now, trying to find some more information about how to run a solid e-mail verification system... to no avail. Here's my problem/question:

I send an e-mail (and check the basics with javascript) to new registrations on my site so that I can confirm that their e-mail is real (not larry*oracle.bom) , and it's theirs (not [e-mail]). However, I'm constantly amazed by how few of the registrants actually make it through the process. For the most part, I suspect they aren't getting the e-mail. Maybe it ends up in their spam filter? Are there guidelines for e-mail language, etc... to make sure that my e-mails get through to the customer who's asking for it?

Sausalater

[victor]

I have a similar system and a similar problem.

The sign-up page makes it clear that we will be sending an email with a confirmation code; and the subject line will be "blah blah blah", so, if you have spam filters, please let that through.

The email itself apologises in case it has been sent to the wrong person.

It also tells them they have a month to complete the registration.

And then about 50% of completions don't.

In some cases (not hotmail or other generic addresses) I have emailed people separately and asked what's happened: did they get the original email, or what?

In the fewer cases when I've had a reply, the answer has always been "yes".

I guess barriers stop people. Even a comparatively low barrier like a two-stage sign-up. Offer people the chance not to procede, and lots will take it.

[bird]

If spam filters really are the problem, the best workaround is to do what some of the real spammers do: Install the most popular filters on your own system, and run your messages through them to figure out if and why they get intercepted. In my experience with statistical filters, adding some more explanatory text will often reduce the relative weight of trigger words like "e-mail" and "click", etc. Fortunately, adding random text like the spammers do doesn't have quite the same effect.

Many people using filters just accept whatever their ISP offers, and will be too lazy/unsavvy to add your domain to their whitelist if they even have one. Others may simply decide otherwise after receiving your confirmation request, or they get distracted with other things and forget about it. There's not much you can do about those other than making your site irresistible...

[sausalater]

Thanks for the thoughts, Bird. And, thanks for the feedback that I'm not the only one, Victor!

I've been looking all over. Maybe there's a more creative way to solve the problem? My ratio seems to be about 33% reject rate and that's not acceptable. I saw one set of code on this site that used a real-time reverse dns lookup of some sort to make sure the e-mail is valid. Not a bad idea, but it still doesn't tell me whether they just typed in "[e-mail]" or their own e-mail address.

There has to be a more elegant way to solve this problem. Any ideas? How do eBay and other high volume sites do it? They can't be ok with such a high loss rate.

sausalater