What causes a bad IP reputation?

A bad IP reputation is caused by high bounce rates, spam complaints, untrustworthy external links, involvement in malicious activity like malware, spam, or phishing, and the absence of security measures. Additionally, IP age can also influence the reputation.

How can I fix my IP reputation?

You can fix your IP reputation by requesting removal from internet blacklists. To achieve this, you must adhere to safe sender guidelines by maintaining a clean email list, keeping a low bounce rate, and achieving sufficient email engagement. You should also audit your website for low-trust external links and administer modern security measures, including SSL, TLS, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

What is a good IP reputation score?

A good IP score is considered to be an 80 or above (100 being the maximum score).

Is my IP blacklisted?

You can check if your IP is on a blacklist by using the free IP reputation checker. It compares your IP address against 120+ known blacklist services at no cost.

IP Reputation Checker

Run a free IP reputationⓘ check to see if your IP address is on a blacklist and identify any potential threats to your IP address reputation. Get real-time analysis against 120+ security sources.

What is IP reputation?

Your IP reputation, or IP score, is what internet service providers (ISPs) and anti-spam services use to measure the trustworthiness of an IP address.Your website and company domain use a dedicated IP address, a unique number that identifies websites, emails, and devices connected to the same network.Your IP reputation is impacted by:

IP address age
Hosting provider and location
External links and the IP reputation associated with those IPs
Involvement in spam or phishing activity (intentional or not)
Presence on RBLs, aka blacklists
Email activity, including bounce rate, sending volume, and campaign engagement
Security records and certifications, like SSL, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI
Domain reputation

Why IP reputation impacts email deliverability

Your IP reputation affects your email deliverability because it directly impacts your sender reputation, also known as your sender score.The reputation associated with your IP address, domain, and email activity is what internet service providers (ISPs) use to measure your trustworthiness. If you maintain a positive IP reputation, your email deliverability will be higher than that of IPs with lower reputations.As a result, any of the factors mentioned above that influence IP reputation can directly help or harm your email deliverability – even if your email program complies with best practices.However, the relationship goes both ways. If your email sending habits are problematic, you can hurt your IP reputation. Examples of problematic email behaviors include:

Having a bounce rate higher than 2%
Sending emails too frequently
A drastic and sudden increase in outbound emails
Having a spam complaint rate higher than 0.1%
Poor recipient engagement
Not cleaning your email list, or uploading purchased, recycled lists to your ESP
No email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) present in DNS

To maintain your email deliverability, regularly check IP reputation to identify potential threats and take prompt action.Get my free IP threat score

Monitor your IP score to boost trust and email deliverability

Your IP reputation is your company’s digital trust signal. Check yours against comprehensive databases, including blacklists, whitelists, and reputation feeds, to protect your IP against cybersecurity threats and maximize your email deliverability.

Multi-source AnalysisCheck against 120+ reputation sources including VirusTotal, Spamhaus, AbuseIPDB, and other major security vendors

Real-time ResultsGet instant analysis with up-to-date threat intelligence and blacklist information.

Detailed ReportingComprehensive reports with geolocation data, ISP information, and threat classification.

Risk ScoringAdvanced risk assessment with confidence scores and threat level indicators.

Hostname SupportAnalyze both IP addresses and hostnames with automatic DNS resolution.

Global CoverageWorldwide threat intelligence with detailed geolocation and ISP information.

What is IP reputation?

IP address age
Hosting provider and location
External links and the IP reputation associated with those IPs
Involvement in spam or phishing activity (intentional or not)
Presence on RBLs, aka blacklists
Email activity, including bounce rate, sending volume, and campaign engagement
Security records and certifications, like SSL, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI
Domain reputation

Why IP reputation impacts email deliverability

Having a bounce rate higher than 2%
Sending emails too frequently
A drastic and sudden increase in outbound emails
Having a spam complaint rate higher than 0.1%
Poor recipient engagement
Not cleaning your email list, or uploading purchased, recycled lists to your ESP
No email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) present in DNS

To maintain your email deliverability, regularly check IP reputation to identify potential threats and take prompt action.Get my free IP threat score

How to interpret your IP score

The IP reputation checker provides a wealth of information for your IP address. Here’s how to interpret each section:

Threat Assessment – This section lists over 100 anti-spam, reputation, whitelist, and blacklist services. If your IP is listed by one of these, it will appear as a security threat. Each listing will show one of the following statuses:
- Clean – Your IP address isn’t listed.
- Suspicious – One or more issues may be present, which can negatively impact your IP reputation. These aren’t critical threats, but should be investigated early.
- Blacklisted – Your IP address is currently blacklisted by the service.

IP Details – This section lists identifying IP information, including your exact address, protocol, hostname, and current threat status.

Geographic Info – This section identifies the origin of the IP address.

Network Info – This section lists the ISP associated with the IP address, along with the Autonomous System Number (ASN).

Risk Assessment – This is a numerical IP threat score that describes your level of threat based on discovered findings and the severity of issues.

Common IP reputation issues

If your IP reputation check identifies threats or shows your IP on blacklists, don’t panic. Your IP score may be lower as a result of one of these common issues:

High email bounce rates – The IP address associated with your emails must maintain a bounce rate of 2% or lower. If you repeatedly bounce emails without addressing the issue, your sender reputation falls and directly impacts your IP reputation.

Untrustworthy external links – Don’t give out hyperlinks to just any source. Use the IP reputation checker to verify outside sources and avoid associating your IP address with high-risk, untrustworthy IP addresses.

High spam complaint rate – Your spam complaint rate needs to be 0.1% or lower. You can minimize this by only sending emails with consent and providing a clear, visible way to unsubscribe from messaging.

Sporadic and inconsistent email activity – Predictability = trustworthiness. Avoid spamming your audience with too many emails, don’t take long breaks from sending, and don’t drastically increase your volume without warning. Use an email warmup tool to avoid negative impacts on your IP reputation.

No email authentication records – Bulk senders are required to use security records, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. If you continue to send without configuring email authentication, your IP reputation will suffer.

Not validating your email list – A primary source of high bounce rates is invalid email addresses. Additionally, uploading a bulk list without cleaning it can result in being flagged by ESPs. Always validate new lists to avoid bounces, spam complaints, and other reputation threats.

Frequently asked questions

You can check your IP reputation using an IP reputation check or an IP blacklist checker. This free tool tests the IP address against known blacklists, whitelists, and reputation feeds to assess potential threats and calculate your IP score.