Joint research University of Amsterdam and Copernica on bounce management

Together with the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Copernica is currently analysing and improving the way the software handles bounces. Two groups of five students Artificial Intelligence (AI) are looking at the possibilities to retrieve more information from bounces. For Copernica users this would mean that they will be able to maintain an even higher quality for their databases and send lists.

Bounce messages are error notifications that occur when an email isn’t delivered to its recipient. Because the sender used a non-existing email address for example, because someone’s mailbox is full or because the receiving mail server is unavailable.

Standard codes

Whenever an email provider delivers a bounce message, it does so using standard SMTP reply codes. 554, for example, means that the receiving server doesn’t accept the connection. When a 550 code is given, the receiving server is saying that the receiving mailbox doesn’t exist (anymore).

But some ISPs use deviating codes. Or add comments to the replies. In these cases it’s a lot harder to interpret the information automatically. Also, sometimes out of office replies will be sent as a bounce, making it seem that a mailbox doesn’t exist anymore, while in reality its owner might just be on a holiday.

Out of office replies

Two groups of five AI students from the UvA are now analysing the bounce messages that Copernica receives after sending emails. Their goal is to see if there are ways to improve the automatic handling of these messages.

If an out of office reply for instance states that someone is on a three month sabbatical, that could be interesting information for a marketer. Because why send someone emails during this period if he’s not going read them anyway?

Deviating codes

The students are also looking at ways to automatically analyse the information in bounce messages with deviating codes. As stated before, a 554 code usually means that a receiving server refuses a connection. But some providers might use a deviating 550 code for that same message

Because of this, Copernica could handle such a bounce as a definite one, while the reason for the bounce might be a temporary issue. By applying AI however, it might be possible to automatically assign the right meaning to a bounce.

Benefits for Copernica users

For users of the software improving the way Copernica handles bounces, could lead to various benefits for their email reputation:

• An improved quality of their email list. Because bounces are interpreted better, users will be able to remove an email address from their send list in an earlier stage. Also, this might prevent out of office replies being wrongly interpreted as a definitive bounce.
• Higher open rates. Because mailboxes that still exist – but aren’t active anymore – can be removed from an email list, the number of unopened emails will decrease.