Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Tiffanny, VA on August 4, 2008:

When I suddenly stopped getting This is True, I was really disappointed - I thought you had stopped publishing :(

But while checking my spam folder for "not spam" (For some reason Yahoo thinks my old college professor is a spammer), I found several issues of This is True. I marked it as "not spam" and have been enjoying it in my inbox ever since.

I'm definitely going to spread the word on my blog and on payday, I'm finally going to upgrade, using a new non-yahoo email address.

Posted by Eric, Vernon Hills, IL on August 4, 2008:

So sorry to hear about the Yahoo problem.

It's a big problem! You lost me as a premium subscriber a couple of years ago when my server company was blocking my subscription (and they were denying that they were doing it!).

Now that I've switched email servers and been a free subscriber successfully for a while, You'll be seeing my upgrade very shortly.

Another surprising issue: Yahoo's search doesn't even list your site if you search for: This is True (It does, but only if you put it in quotes) What a lousy search engine & company.

The same search on Google has the site as the #1 link (where it should be) as well as other related sites and links.

Posted by Richard, Marietta, GA on August 5, 2008:

Irony: The Google Ad panel running down the left side of your page is for methods to bypass spam filters. I know you have little control over this, but it is still annoying.

Love This is True - I look forward to it each week.

I've subbed via Yahoo to This is True for years, and I too noticed that recently I did not receive any issues. I've just realized that you were being blocked; you didn't even show up in the spam box. I've since subbed via my personal email addy, and I am also going to upgrade, even though I am out of work right now. (It's well worth it!)

Don't let the bastards wear you down!

I'm complaining to Yahoo, though it won't do any good. Yahoo is notorious for sending e-mail of this type to Dev/Nul. I'm also taking my business elsewhere, and letting them know why.

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Sounds like exactly the right approach. And correct: I don't have control over the ads; they are automated based on the content of the page. I'd just hope that Google would kick out any advertisers who offer "illegitimate" products or services. -rc

Posted by Allison, Midland TX on August 5, 2008:

I too have True blocked by the spam filters with my email host (not Yahoo). I have even whitelisted Lyris, but to no avail, they end up with the junk. Luckilly, as my company's network administrator, so to speak, I am able to view all mail caught by the filters and release the legitimate emails. So every Tuesday, I log in and release my premium edition of True. The funny thing is, the free edition gets through with no problems! Technology, ya gotta love it! Keep up the excellent work RC! Damn the man!

Posted by Ann, Ukraine on August 5, 2008:

Yeah, I've had the same problem with other kinds of newsletters and Yahoo! Some newsletters like from Cuba, Venezuela or other sources, which may not necessarily politically aligned with current mainstream US politics, seem to get either blocked of spammed out, unfortunately.

Posted by Andrew, OH, USA on August 5, 2008:

There's a possible tech solution to your problem on your end. You are:

1. Using a VERP-ish Return-Path. (Are you actually listening to those bounces? If not, that's your problem right there.)

2. Using SPF.

But you're not using domain keys. You want to do this. Note, Yahoo was an early proponent and developer of DKIM...

With Yahoo in particular, we found it to be more effective than SPF in preventing their spam filter from incorrectly marking emails as spam. As always, YMMV, but in our experience, Yahoo immediately stopped incorrectly marking our email as spam once we turned on DKIM. It's also a requirement to get on their whitelist, which is something else you want to do.

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Of course we use VERP, and we aggressively delete bad addresses, even if it's just chronic "mailbox full" bounces. I'm already researching how to get DomainKeys installed. -rc

Posted by Bernadine in Kentucky on August 6, 2008:

Glad to see your update. Much better news than the response I finally got:

"Hello Bernadine,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Mail.

Our servers are running normally at this time and your account appears to be functioning properly.

Please note that very few messages are simply lost in transit. Please make sure that the sender has actually sent the message and is able to send messages successfully to other users. If you still have not received the message, a number of things may have happened:

1. If you have set up filters, your messages may be arriving in a folder other than your Inbox. This includes the Trash folder. To view your filters, click the "Mail Options" link on the top right-hand navigation bar, then click "Filters". You may want to set up a filter for mail having delivery problems to be specifically delivered to the inbox.

Note: Messages in the Trash folder can be deleted by the system at any time without any warning. Please remember that after messages have been emptied from the Trash, they cannot be recovered.

2. If you have SpamGuard turned on for your mail account, the message may have been delivered to your Bulk Mail folder. While we make our best effort to deliver solicited bulk or commercial email directly to your Inbox, we may occasionally send a message you have requested to your Bulk Mail folder. It is important therefore, that you check the Bulk Mail Folder from time to time to make sure you do not miss these messages.

If you believe a message that has been delivered to your Bulk Mail Folder is more appropriately delivered to your Inbox, please click the "Not Spam" button, located in every message.

3. The message was delayed. Most messages are delivered within a few minutes, but messages can sometimes be delayed while in transit due to problems on the sending/receiving mail server, heavy Internet traffic,
or routing problems. On rare occasions, delays can last for several hours or more.

4. Your account is over the allowed quota. If so, any messages sent to your account will bounce back to the sender with an error message stating, "User is over quota". You will have to delete messages in your
account in order to make room for new ones.

5. You can add the address for the mail with delivery issues to you address book.

6. It is possible (though perhaps unlikely) that the sender's address is on your Blocked Addresses list. The Blocked Addresses feature in Yahoo! Mail allows you to create a list of addresses that you do not want to
receive mail from. Mail coming in from one of these senders will neither arrive nor bounce, but will simply be discarded.

You can check your Blocked Addresses list by clicking "Options", then "Blocked Addresses".

7. Occasionally, interruptions or disruptions in email transmissions over the Internet will render a message undeliverable.

While this is very rare, it does happen. Unfortunately, aside from waiting, there is no way to know for certain whether a message has been delayed or whether it has been rendered undeliverable.

In any case, the best solution is to contact the sender to make sure they are still delivering messages to your account without getting any error messages. If, upon contacting the sender, they indicate that they
are experiencing delivery issues when trying to send emails to Yahoo! Mail, we encourage you to have them contact us directly via the Help page below in order for us to get specific information regarding any issues they may be having when delivering to our users.

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/defer/defer-03.html

Please let us know if you still experience problems so we may assist you further to resolve your issue.

Your patience during this process is greatly appreciated.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Mail. "

In reply I told them that I had ALREADY done all the things they suggested BEFORE contacting them - and that you were dissatisfied with their help in addressing the problem. I ended with the comment that over 10,000 users could soon be leaving if the problem remained unresolved!

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Classic: "It's your fault" or "It's the Internet's fault" -- no possibility that they did something wrong. -rc

Posted by Brian in Ohio on August 8, 2008:

When I first read that Yahoo had told you there should be "no issues delivering" I thought "Issues of This is True".

"Exactly! No issues delivering! That's the PROBLEM!!"

Then I figured it out...

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:-) -rc

Posted by Charlotte, Sacramento, CA on August 12, 2008:

In regards to the "Not Spam" issue, I have to say that when you are wading through a sea of messages, it's very easy to accidentally mark a message as Spam accidentally and never realize it unless you find a valid email in your spam folder. I've certainly had this happen to me. Of course I mark it as Not Spam as soon as I find it, but with hundreds of spam messages to scroll through, it's also easy to miss those few that got sent there by mistake. It doesn't take malicious intent or laziness. I especially find this to be true of gmail.

Posted by Hank, Burlington, NJ on August 30, 2008:

Well, they told you wrong 'cause I just found the 8-27 Stella's and the 8-29 HeroicStories and This is True in my Spam folder in Yahoo. Clicked NOT SPAM for all the good it'll do.