Don't use Mandrill

[Axel Wers]

Thunderbird thinks it's scam.

Redirected links in email content are not very trustworthy.

[.Ian]

This is common though with many reputable emails from many large companies.

I guess thunderbird does not like those either?

Not sure thunderbird is a reason to not use a third party company.

[Mark]

How can you know how an email client will react to the way we send the API calls when 3.4 hasn't been released yet?

The redirect links are due to click tracking, which is a common feature in any (decent) transactional email provider. I can't imagine an email client would treat them as spam... for a start, how would it know if the link redirects until you click it?

That said, the API call could be adjusted to not use them if you were so inclined.

[Marcher Technologies]

How can you know how an email client will react to the way we send the API calls when 3.4 hasn't been released yet?

I had to explicitly mark emails from this site as not being a scam for Thunderbird to stop telling me they were after Mandrill was turned on here... just stating.

[Charles]

Made a change. See if it still happens.

[bfarber]

Thunderbird (sadly) marks emails as a potential scam if you have something like <a href='one thing here'>different full url here</a>. The reasoning (as I understand it) is that users might think they're going to one website, while the actual href takes them elsewhere (which is common with social engineering scams).

[Matt]

You'd think they'd at least check for http(s)?:// in the "different URL here" part of the A tag before condemning it as scam.

<a href="http://myhax.com">http://www.google.com</a>

That's understandable, but less so:

<a href="http://myhax.com">Check out my website!</a>

[Charles]

I turned off the option in Mandrill to track links. So I would say the poster's proclamation "Don't use Mandrill" should more accurately be "consider turning off the link tracking feature."

[Marcher Technologies]

You'd think they'd at least check for http(s)?:// in the "different URL here" part of the A tag before condemning it as scam.

<a href="http://myhax.com">http://www.google.com</a>

That's understandable, but less so:

<a href="http://myhax.com">Check out my website!</a>

They do.

It has no problem with a text link, it wigs a bit on the link to the content item and unsubscribe.

Linking and bolding 'here' would alleviate it a bit, but yes, it is the tracking bit.

[Wolfie]

Thunderbird thinks it's scam.

Redirected links in email content are not very trustworthy.

This is common though with many reputable emails from many large companies.

I guess thunderbird does not like those either?

Not sure thunderbird is a reason to not use a third party company.

Personally it sounds like Thunderbird needs to be tweaked on how it's handled the links and warning users of what is going on. Likewise, a disclaimer in the email (links go to Mandrill for tracking purposes but are redirected blah blah blah) could let users know it's happening and can either trust it despite any warnings or investigate to learn it's legit and mark links to Mandrill as safe. Although I'd think email readers would already have a list of sites such as Mandrill that it would automatically mark as safe, just as email providers probably do as well.

[Dmacleo]

FWIW exchange server 2010 with outlook 2010 clients are not flagging in anyway.

[Axel Wers]

When I wrote "Don't use Mandrill" this NOT means "You can't use Mandrill".

This is only feedback what Thunderbird thinks about this.

[Rhett]

I don't get any mail from here flagged, seems to be a TB issue, I use Outlook, Mac Mail and others, all are good.

[bfarber]

This is indeed a Thunderbird 'issue'. I understand the concept the email client is after (if the link APPEARS as h ttp://google.com to the user, but actually points to h ttp://lookslikegooglebutstealsyourinfo.com instead, users are easily duped). The problem is, there are valid reasons for links not to point to where they may appear (such as this case) and it gives a false sense of insecurity to users when nothing nefarious is actually happening in this case.

[Makoto]

I've had a number of legitimate e-mails flagged as being a potential scam by Thunderbird.

I consider it nothing but a warning to ensure the legitimacy of the e-mail yourself rather than a "THIS IS A SCAM DISCARD IT IMMEDIATELY DO NOT OPEN" flag.

[bfarber]

I've had a number of legitimate e-mails flagged as being a potential scam by Thunderbird.

I consider it nothing but a warning to ensure the legitimacy of the e-mail yourself rather than a "THIS IS A SCAM DISCARD IT IMMEDIATELY DO NOT OPEN" flag.

I do as well, but giant warnings scare novice users, regardless.

[Makoto]

I do as well, but giant warnings scare novice users, regardless.

True enough. I guess it could do with some improvement.

[Mat Barrie]

I don't get any mail from here flagged, seems to be a TB issue, I use Outlook, Mac Mail and others, all are good.

That's OK, I just don't get any mail from here at all. Postini flags it all as spam and dumps it in the quarantine.

[Ben Arnold]

Has anyone considered Critsend? they dont charge monthly just a low pay as you go program.... I am not trying to spam them at all but we have been using them for quite sometime there is a number of reasons we chose them over others like Mandrill.

1) Pricing

2) Their network of delivery servers actively monitor their IP's for being flagged on RBLs etc and when one gets flagged the system is assigned a new IP this prevents other people from using the system to cause your emails to land in spam boxes

3) Your emails get past even the legendary Positini system if the templates are correctly coded to standards

We have been using the CritSend smtp method, but would be nice if the API method was created as a community enhancement

[CheersnGears]

I'm only replying to this because it comes up in a google search about scam links from mandrill.  Hopefully I can help others webmasters who are running into this issue.

To fix this, you need to set up a tracking sub-domain in your DNS following the instructions here:

http://help.mandrill.com/entries/23353682-Can-I-customize-the-domain-used-for-open-and-click-tracking-

Your tracking domain must be the same domain your emails are sending from....   

Missing in the instructions are the steps after setting up the tracking domain in your DNS.

In your Mandrill account configuration:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Sending Defaults tab
3. Scroll down to tracking domain and switch the dropdown from mandrillapp.com to track.yourdomain.com
4. Scroll down to return path domain and do the same as step 3.
5. If you have SPF set up and haven't swapped the setting, probably want to do that in here as well.

Save the settings.  Once your DNS is fully replicated, you should be good to go and not trigger any more scam alerts.

[jackflash]

I'm only replying to this because it comes up in a google search about scam links from mandrill.  Hopefully I can help others webmasters who are running into this issue.

To fix this, you need to set up a tracking sub-domain in your DNS following the instructions here:

http://help.mandrill.com/entries/23353682-Can-I-customize-the-domain-used-for-open-and-click-tracking-

Your tracking domain must be the same domain your emails are sending from....   

Missing in the instructions are the steps after setting up the tracking domain in your DNS.

In your Mandrill account configuration:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Sending Defaults tab
3. Scroll down to tracking domain and switch the dropdown from mandrillapp.com to track.yourdomain.com
4. Scroll down to return path domain and do the same as step 3.
5. If you have SPF set up and haven't swapped the setting, probably want to do that in here as well.

Save the settings.  Once your DNS is fully replicated, you should be good to go and not trigger any more scam alerts.

​Thanks for posting this tutorial. We're thinking of using Mandrill soon.