What is a flagged email?

My mass email is being flagged as spam based on "ML obfuscated ticker symbols" and "Meta Combo Phrase for Schooling." What does that mean, and how do I correct it?

• I am attempting to send out a mass mailing via iContact. It won't let me because the message is being (wrongfully) flagged as spam due to "ML obfuscated ticker symbols" and "Meta Combo Phrase for Schooling." What do those terms mean and how can I correct the issue?

• Answer:

  Here's my guess: 1. ML probably stands for "Meta Language" or "Machine Language", or something like that. So SpamAssassin (which from a Google search looks to be the service producing the results) thinks you're trying to hide stock ticker symbols inside your message. Do you have any all-caps words scattered through your text? 2. "Meta Combo Phrase for Schooling" - I'm less confident here, but I think this is referring to combinations of words and phrases often used in spam selling "online degrees" and that kind of thing. I haven't used iContact, but my suggestion would be to remove chunks of your content and to retest each time. If there's only one section that's triggering the spam filter, then I would think you should be able to find it that way. If that doesn't work, then you may need to look at a more significant revision of your email. Here's a bit from iContact's blog (http://www.icontact.com/blog/are-your-messages-going-into-the-spam-folder/): In general, here are key things you should avoid ... Content that resembles or contains words found in actual spam. These include terms related to pharmaceuticals, making money, weight loss, and the like. If your content is legitimate but you are flagged for using words like “millions and millions” or “Viagra” in your message, there is nothing that can be done to get around that. Unfortunately, those words have been so overused by spammers that your legitimate email will simply have to be revised to reduce or eliminate the use of such words. Hope that helps, and good luck.