Microsoft Outlook spam filter running amok

I've noticed that in the past few weeks the MS Outlook spam filter has been incorrectly flagging everything in sight. It now traps the updates that I get from the Los Angeles Times. It traps emails from eMarketer that I've been getting for years. It even traps the emails from the Vertical Response communications team. And now, starting this week, it traps my newsletter.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is there anything that we can do to try and control this out of control monster?

Tags: deliverability, filters, spam

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Permalink Reply by David Winch on October 20, 2009 at 8:35am: Hi Jeff

I'm told there is a list of about 200 words that, if seen in your e-mail subject line by Outlook, will at best send your message straight to the recipient's spam box. Next worst outcome is that your e-mail gets bounced and your address gets 'Greylisted' by Microsoft and therefore by every Outlook user. Ultimate outcome is that your entire URL gets 'Blacklisted' across the entire Outlook community worldwide! Scary!

Needless to say, Microsoft don't make this word list readily available, but I'm still trying to get hold of a copy. Equally predictably, the list will be updated very frequently.

Obviously it will contain words like f-r_e*e and v*i_a-g.r;a but there are many other less obvious, innocuous looking words on the list.

If anyone else has access to this information, is there some way of sharing it?

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Permalink Reply by Jeff on November 6, 2009 at 8:50am: I am so frustrated with Microsoft Outlook's spam filter. They seem to have really amped it up lately. Now they catch email updates from the New York Times and Washington Post that have been delivered to my inbox for years with no problem. I believe that they also trap some of the emails that I send from VR. Is there anything that we can do to tell them to take it easy already?; ▶ Reply to This