Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Yahoo is Currently Recycling Inactive Email Accounts

Starting back on July 15th and going through August 15, Yahoo is engaging in a deactivation process of email accounts that have received no activity for the last 12 months.

Why is this good?
This is good news because Yahoo will soon make those inactive ID's available to new users.

Why this complicates things?

In a statment made to Wired, Yahoo is taking precautions to securely close these accounts. The actions include:
  • Sending bounce back emails to alert senders that the account has been deactivated and no longer exists.
  • Automatically unsubscribing deactivated accounts from commercial email databases including newsletters and email alerts.
  • Once deactivation is complete, they will send notification of these recycled accounts to merchants, financial institution, email providers, social networks and e-commerce sites.

If you are a business who maintains an email database, it's likely that you have contacts with Yahoo email addresses. If you have contacts with inactive emails, this current change could affect (or be affecting) you in several ways.

  • You may notice a higher than usual opt out rates.
  • You may receive a notification from Yahoo when trying to email a deactivated account.
  • New users who begin using a previously deactivated account could report your email as SPAM

What Should I do?
Many email providers and email marketing clients are aware of this issue so any uptick in opt outs and SPAM may be "forgiven" during this time but you should still be proactive to preserve your email reputation.
  • Make sure all emails have an "unsubscribe" link at the top or bottom of the email
  • Monitor contacts with yahoo emails that have never been opened or have not been opened in the last 12 months and remove them from your database
  • Be sure that you are getting permission for all email contacts that you market to and avoid buying outdated email lists
If you are worried that your account might be one of these that are deactivated - we suggest logging in to you Yahoo product immediately. And if you are wanting a specific"short, sweet and memorable" Yahoo ID - go check - it might be available!

Photo Credit: guardian . co . uk

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