Major ISPs like AOL and Yahoo are doing what they can to make sure that their users don’t get spam. Of course they block a lot of legitimate email as well.

One solution that is growing in popularity is the idea of email certification. In other words, a system that could verify that you, the sender, are who you say you are, and that your email gets delivered and maybe even stand out in the inbox a little.

Goodmail Systems is working with ISPs to bring this kind of certification to marketers who meet strict standards for best email practices and low complaint rates. It’s kind of like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval for email.

The following is a list of benefits reported by Goodmail
• 100% deliverability
• Images and links automatically enabled
• Blue ribbon image next to your mail in the inbox

I won’t try to explain how it works, but it does involve an accreditation process to qualify. (Here’s a diagram of how it works.)

And now for some further reading
• SenderID – Microsoft’s e-mail authentication technology protocol
• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) – provides a method for validating a domain name identity that is associated with a message through cryptographic authentication.
• Static IP vs Shared IP – Good (but technical) article on the technical aspects of sharing a mail server IP address – if you swim in a pond with lots of people you can’t really control what’s in the water.

Reporting this live from the Marketing Sherpa Email Summit