Edit Bounce Processing Settings
Define how the system will process email addresses that generate bounces in LISTSERV Maestro mailings.
Configuring the Bounce Processing Settings
LISTSERV Maestro can be configured to retain or remove email addresses from the subscriber warehouse when bounced mail is generated by a mailing. To retain addresses that generate bounces, select the option to keep addresses in the warehouse. To enable removal, select the option for removal, then set the criteria for the number and time frame of the bounces. LISTSERV Maestro will only remove an address that meets all the criteria entered.
- Number of bounces: The threshold number of messages sent to the address that trigger bounces.
- Minimum time between consecutive bounces: The send times of the mailings that trigger the bounce differ by a threshold number of hours.
Note: If the value 0 is entered for the minimum time between two consecutive bounces, then the second condition is disabled and LISTSERV Maestro ignores the time gap between the bounces. Address removal is then based only on the number of bounces.
About Email Deliverability and Bounces
Email messages sent to a recipient address may be undeliverable for many reasons, and those reasons may be temporary or permanent. Some reasons include hardware failure of mail servers, network connectivity problems, or problems delivering to the recipient inbox due to quota overruns, among many others. It is impossible to provide a complete list here. The goal of bounce processing is to remove invalid email addresses that cause permanent errors, while retaining those addresses that may have temporary problems accepting mail.
Due to the nature of the technology involved, at times it is difficult to distinguish between temporary and permanent problems in a reliable way. Email delivery is executed using SMTP, a distributed protocol that involves a path through potentially many remote servers over networks whose availability are outside of the control of LISTSERV Maestro. Sometimes a temporary problem will be labeled as a permanent one, such as with the case of an unavailable mail server. The mail server can be repaired or replaced and become capable of delivering email again after only a short period.
LISTSERV Maestro removes an address after it has generated the configured number of bounces in a row, i.e. without any successful mailings to this address in between. In addition, bounces for jobs that have been sent shortly after one another, or even at the same time, are counted as only a single bounce.