How is MXRate different from other DNS blacklists?
First, MXRate is not a blacklist in the traditional sense. Rather, it is better defined as a Sender Reputation Database. There are dozens anti-spam databases, blacklists, and DNS tests available. Many are typically built and maintained from reports from individual users who receive unwanted email. Others are built from more automated procedures such as maintaining “spam traps” which are email accounts specifically set up to “attract” spam. We feel that there is a basic problem with these in that they are either too subjective, or do not accurately reflect a valid sample of real world spam activity. We have used some of these databases ourselves in the past, and while they were effective to a point, there were lots of inaccuracies and stale records. Our approach is to obtain statistically relevant samplings from a large assortment of “real-life” email addresses receiving a wide variety of messages. By applying the same objective standards to each message, and analyzing the results centr
