Sorry, AOL email users, we cannot add you to our system at this time...

Why you might ask?  Well here is the scenario in a nutshell.  AOL has strict spam policies.  Because of these policies, they block large chunks of IP addresses merely based on the service provider.  Even though we have a business class internet connection on dedicated lines with managed servers, AOL has found it in their great wisdom to ban all emails sent from our servers merely because other people using the same ISP have sent mass email messages before.  Our service provider does not condone or allow this, but even sending a single email to one person who reports it to AOL using their nice 'one click' spam report system will get your server, along with all others in your IP block banned. 

We contacted AOL multiple times, and after days of wrangling with them on the phone had them re-instate our IP block, only to have it blocked again just days later. 

This we found was also caused by some of our other clients on this server using AOL's spam blocking features as well.  We have clients that setup forwarding addresses from their domains to their AOL account.  For example:

They setup a forwarder from their domain to their AOL account (JoeSoap@JoesDomain.com -> jsoap@aol.com). This way, they get all email sent to JoeSoap@JoesDomain.com and everything gets forwarded to their AOL email account.  Nice, easy, simple, and our clients only have to check one spot for their email.

HOWEVER, one day the client receives some spam at JoeSoap@JoesDomain.com, which of course gets forwarded straight to the AOL email account. The client opens the AOL email box and sees the spam, then clicks to add it to the AOL spam filter - spam is gone - life is good!

Here is the problem: AOL's spam filter (wrongly) does not register the originator of the message as the spammer - instead, it registers the last place the email came from as the spammer, and the last place the email came from is our web host server (JoesDomain.com). But the story doesn't end there ... AOL goes one step further to make things even uglier - they don't just block JoesDomain.com, they block the entire web host server that the site is on, and in many cases the IP block associated with our IP as well, which means all the other web sites that share the server and use the same ISP (typically, hundreds of them) now cannot send email to anyone at AOL either and we are back, once again, being blocked by AOL and we have to start at the beginning again.

As we said at the beginning, we have been 're-instated' by AOL three times, and within a day or two we get blocked again because either one of our clients gets spam and uses the AOL filter to block it, or some other company that uses our ISP has a user do the same thing and we get blocked right along with them.

This is not an isolated incident, we are not alone.  Mailing lists, legitimate emails from schools and universities, email from users workplace, and valid op-in lists such as ours are being blocks by AOL and there are articles about it all over the web. Google it if you want to read page after page of users and ISPs on other blocked IP's and all the trouble they have with AOL.

So what can you do?  My advise is to setup a FREE email account with Hotmail or Yahoo.  Both provide spam protection that works very well and will not effect your mailing lists or other important emails.  Also, Hotmail can be used with Microsoft Outlook for those who don't like web based email clients.

Hope this little primer explains why we can't put AOL users on our list, but also we hope this will open the eyes of any AOL users out there.  Break out of the hold of AOL and use your email as it was intended to be used!  Don't let some corporate entity dictate what you can and cannot receive because they are too cheap or lazy to institute real spam protection like you find at Hotmail and Yahoo.  

 

-The Alley Katz Web Team