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Alice emails in spam? Causes and solutions to fix it

You send an important email with your Alice account, but the recipient doesn’t receive it in their inbox. Upon closer inspection, you discover it ended up in their spam folder. It is a frustrating and unfortunately common situation, which can create misunderstandings and delays in both personal and professional communications. Understanding why this happens is the first step to ensuring your messages always reach their destination. In the European digital market, where email communication remains a pillar, deliverability is a crucial factor.

This problem isn’t just about technology, but also about trust and online reputation. In a cultural context like Italy’s, where personal and professional relationships are based on clear and direct communication, an email ending up in spam can be seen as a sign of unreliability. We will address the causes, from the most technical to the simplest, and provide practical solutions for senders and recipients, combining the tradition of a historic service like Alice Mail with the innovations needed to communicate effectively today.

Why Alice emails end up in spam

When an email is sent, before reaching the recipient’s mailbox, it is analyzed by complex systems called spam filters. These programs decide whether a message is legitimate or if it should be moved to the junk mail folder. [9] The decision is based on a score calculated according to several factors. [10] If the score exceeds a certain threshold, the email is marked as spam. This mechanism, essential for protecting us from scams and malicious messages, can sometimes make mistakes, intercepting legitimate communications as well. [5]

The reasons why an email sent from an Alice.it account may be considered spam are manifold and can depend on both the sender and the configuration of TIM’s servers. Among the main causes, we find the reputation of the IP address from which the email originates, the message content, and the absence of modern authentication protocols. [5] Sometimes, the IP of the TIM mail server might be included in a “blacklist,” a list of addresses considered sources of spam. [7, 21] This can happen even without direct responsibility on the user’s part. [2]

IP Reputation and Blacklists

Every device that connects to the Internet, including mail servers, has an IP address. The reputation of this IP is fundamental for email delivery. [5] Email providers like Gmail, Outlook, or TIM itself, constantly monitor the IPs from which they receive messages. If a server sends large quantities of emails that users report as spam, its reputation decreases. TIM servers, managing millions of @alice.it, @tim.it, and @tin.it mailboxes, can sometimes end up on international blacklists due to spamming activities conducted by some users. [21] When this happens, even emails from innocent users utilizing the same server can be blocked or diverted to spam by the recipient’s provider. [7] TIM itself uses these lists to filter incoming messages, blocking IPs deemed sources of spam. [21]

Message content and “trigger” words

The content of the email is another element carefully examined by filters. There are “trigger words,” terms and phrases often associated with spam, which can set off an alarm. [5] Words like “Free,” “Special Offer,” “Earn now,” “Click here,” or an excessive use of capital letters and exclamation marks can increase the message’s spam score. [10, 15] Even an email composed almost exclusively of images, with little text, or containing shortened links (like those from Bitly) can be viewed with suspicion. [10, 18] The same applies to attachments, which are considered a potential vehicle for viruses and malware. [4]

Email authentication: SPF, DKIM and DMARC

To combat phishing and spoofing, authentication protocols have been created to verify the sender’s identity: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. [24, 29]

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) allows a domain owner to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on their behalf. [16, 24]
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to the email, ensuring that the content has not been altered during transit. [16, 24]
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) relies on the first two and indicates to receiving servers how to treat emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks (for example, quarantining or rejecting them). [16, 24]

Although the configuration of these records is more common for custom domains, their absence or imperfect configuration on a large provider’s servers can contribute to worse overall deliverability. [18, 32]

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) allows a domain owner to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on their behalf. [16, 24]
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to the email, ensuring that the content has not been altered during transit. [16, 24]
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) relies on the first two and indicates to receiving servers how to treat emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks (for example, quarantining or rejecting them). [16, 24]

Although the configuration of these records is more common for custom domains, their absence or imperfect configuration on a large provider’s servers can contribute to worse overall deliverability. [18, 32]

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) allows a domain owner to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on their behalf. [16, 24]
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to the email, ensuring that the content has not been altered during transit. [16, 24]
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) relies on the first two and indicates to receiving servers how to treat emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks (for example, quarantining or rejecting them). [16, 24]

Although the configuration of these records is more common for custom domains, their absence or imperfect configuration on a large provider’s servers can contribute to worse overall deliverability. [18, 32]

What the sender can do to fix it

If your emails regularly end up in spam, there are several actions you can take to improve the situation. These steps help build a “good reputation” as a sender in the eyes of spam filters. It involves a proactive approach combining good writing practices and attention to simple technical details. The goal is to make your messages as clear and trustworthy as possible, minimizing elements that can be interpreted negatively by security systems.

Improving email content

The first line of defense is curating your message content. Avoid using overly commercial language or phrases that seem to create unjustified urgency. [15] Write a clear and concise subject line that faithfully anticipates the email content, without using only capital letters or excessive punctuation. [4, 15] Within the text, structure information legibly, using paragraphs and, if necessary, bullet points. Limit the use of heavy images and, if you need to send files, prefer uploading them to a cloud storage service like Google Drive and sharing the link, rather than directly attaching large files. [18] Finally, ensure your address is correct and that the recipient’s address contains no errors. [8]

Checking email client configuration

If you use an email client like Outlook, Thunderbird, or the Mail app on your smartphone, it is crucial that the outgoing mail server (SMTP) parameters are correct. [20] For Alice Mail, the correct parameters are:

• SMTP Server: out.alice.it
• Port: 587
• Authentication: Required

Incorrect configuration can cause sending issues or make your emails look suspicious. [7, 8] Also, ensure your antivirus or firewall is not blocking the email client’s connection to the SMTP server. [20]

• SMTP Server: out.alice.it
• Port: 587
• Authentication: Required

Incorrect configuration can cause sending issues or make your emails look suspicious. [7, 8] Also, ensure your antivirus or firewall is not blocking the email client’s connection to the SMTP server. [20]

• SMTP Server: out.alice.it
• Port: 587
• Authentication: Required

Incorrect configuration can cause sending issues or make your emails look suspicious. [7, 8] Also, ensure your antivirus or firewall is not blocking the email client’s connection to the SMTP server. [20]

Limiting the number of recipients

A common mistake, especially when sending communications to groups of people, is inserting too many addresses in the “To” or “Cc” field. TIM, like many other providers, imposes a limit on the number of recipients per single send to prevent spam. If you exceed 50 recipients, your message will most likely be blocked. [8, 20] If you need to send communications to many people, it is advisable to use specific newsletter tools or, at the very least, split the sends into smaller groups. For formal and massive communications, it is always better to rely on professional services that guarantee better deliverability and list management.

What the recipient can do

Even the person receiving the email plays an active role in solving the problem. Spam filters, in fact, “learn” from user actions as well. If a recipient reports that an email is not spam, the system will take this information into account for future communications from the same sender. This simple gesture can significantly improve communication between two people. It is a small effort that contributes to creating a cleaner and more reliable communication channel for everyone.

The simplest and most effective solution is to add the sender’s email address (e.g., firstname.lastname@alice.it) to your contacts list. [17] Almost all email services, including Gmail and Outlook, consider messages from addresses saved in the address book as trustworthy. Alternatively, the recipient can enter the spam folder, find the received email, and click the “Not spam” or “Report as safe” button. This action tells the provider that future emails from that address should be delivered to the inbox. For a definitive solution, one can create a filter or rule that automatically moves all emails from a certain sender to the main inbox, as explained in our guide to creating a whitelist.

Conclusions

Seeing your Alice emails end up in the recipient’s spam is a problem with multiple causes, ranging from the reputation of TIM’s servers to simple words in the message text. The good news is that concrete solutions exist for both the sender and the recipient. The sender must pay attention to content, the subject line, and the correct configuration of their email client, avoiding practices like mass sending to too many recipients. If problems persist, it might be useful to contact TIM support for more in-depth checks. [2]

On the other hand, the recipient has the power to “teach” their spam filter what is important by adding the contact to their address book or marking the message as legitimate. This collaborative approach, combining the sender’s technological awareness with the recipient’s action, is the key to maintaining an efficient and reliable digital communication channel. In a world where tradition and innovation meet, even a historic service like Alice Mail requires small attentions to function at its best in the modern digital ecosystem.

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Frequently Asked Questions