How to Remove an IP Address from a Blocklist

IP blocklisting affects even the best web hosting companies. Often, hosting companies attempt to thwart IP blocklisting with an in-house solution; but the development effort required to do so will actually cost these companies more in the long run.

If spam has been sent from any IP on a server, it runs the risk of appearing on a blocklist, or even numerous blocklists.

How does this work?

According to SpamCop: “[We] determine the origin of unwanted mail and report it to the relevant Internet Service Providers.”

What to do if you’ve been blocklisted

1. Identify the blocklist(s)
   Some of the more common ones include Spamhaus, Spamcop, SURBL, and others. A tool such as MX Toolbox will test your IP address against over 100 DNS-based email blocklists so you can identify which one the IP is appearing on.

2. Request Removal from the Blocklist Operator
   Each list provider has their own set of rules and procedure when it comes to IP blocklist removal. The ease of removal depends on the level of offence that landed the IP on the blocklist – repeat or frequent offenders will have more difficulty getting delisted. Some blocklist operators provide an abuse desk email address or online forms to be filled out. The time to removal varies between hours, days or as long as weeks.

3. Break the Blocklisting Cycle
   Frequent IP blocklist removal is a quick-fix solution for a long-term problem. The cause of IPs ending up on blocklists is because the IPs are sending spam to the internet. Therefore, the answer is to ensure spam is stopped and identified before it has the chance to reach the wider internet. A single IP on a blocklist can compromise hundreds of domains and customers in a shared environment.

To read more about hidden costs that arise due to IP blocklisting, download and
read our white paper; “The Hidden Costs of Blocklisting.” 

How MailChannels Outbound Will Solve
Your IP Blocklisting Issues

MailChannels Outbound will identify which customer, belonging to which domain, is causing the problems for the entire IP and report this back to the provider. We block those messages before they plague the receiver and continue this blocklisting cycle. Blocklisting will continue until the spammer is identified and stopped. Our customers are sent compromised account notifications that they get as soon as our system spots the bad behavior so that they proactively deal with the compromised account as opposed to learning about the issues from a blocklist report or hundreds of new support ticket submissions.

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