Email Spam Checker: Improve Email Deliverability with SpamAssassin

Apache SpamAssassin is a powerful open-source spam filtering platform designed to detect and filter unwanted emails. It integrates directly with mail servers to automatically block spam emails or can be run by users for individual mailboxes.

Beyond its primary function as a spam filter, SpamAssassin is widely used by email marketers and senders to evaluate email deliverability. It’s also built into popular email verification and deliverability tools, like MailerCheck, to help ensure emails reach the inbox.

How to find raw email in Gmail

To find the raw email in Gmail, follow these steps:

• Open Gmail in your web browser.
• Click the email you want to check.
• Click the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner of the email.
• Select “Show original” from the dropdown menu.
• Copy the raw email text that appears in a new tab.

How SpamAssassin Scores Emails to Detect Spam

SpamAssassin assigns a spam score to emails by running them through over 700 tests that check for common spam characteristics. The lower the spam score, the better your email’s chances of landing in the inbox. Emails scoring higher than 5 are typically marked as spam by default.

SpamAssassin uses advanced techniques such as Bayesian filtering, blocklists, DNS lookups, external programs, and online databases to evaluate emails for spammy traits.

You don’t need to understand every test, but knowing how SpamAssassin calculates its scores is important for improving your email deliverability.

• Each checked attribute receives a score indicating the likelihood of spam. These individual scores are summed up to form your final SpamAssassin score.
• 👍 Negative scores are ideal, as they indicate a low likelihood of spam, reducing your overall score.
• 🙂 A score of “0” is neutral, meaning it neither helps nor hurts your deliverability.
• 👎 Positive scores indicate potential spam, raising your overall spam score.

Why SpamAssassin Scores Matter for Email Deliverability

Many email providers use SpamAssassin as part of their spam detection process. A high spam score can significantly damage your email deliverability, causing your messages to land in the spam folder instead of the inbox.

For example, if your SpamAssassin score is over 5, there’s a high chance your email will be flagged as spam. However, even a score below 5 doesn’t guarantee inbox delivery, as each inbox provider has its own spam threshold and filtering criteria.

Best Practices: Keeping Your SpamAssassin Score Low

Email providers and mail server administrators can customize their SpamAssassin thresholds. Although the default threshold is 5, administrators are encouraged to adjust it based on their needs, often setting lower limits.

Because email administrators can change their threshold to anything they deem appropriate, it’s essential to aim for the lowest possible SpamAssassin score. Don’t settle for a score of 5. Some providers might reject emails with scores above 3, blocking them from the inbox altogether.

To maximize your email deliverability, aim for a SpamAssassin score below 4. The ideal range is between 0 and 2. If your score is above 2, review and fix the issues affecting your email’s spam score to improve its chances of reaching the inbox.