Topic: Mailchimp

Adam Curry recounts how John C. Dvorak's family, including his wife Mimi and daughter Jay, managed the crisis. The family attempted to access Dvorak's computers for show business, leading to difficulties with two-factor authentication and passwords. Dvorak's son JC and guest host Horowitz are credited for maintaining the podcast schedule during the recovery period.

A discussion regarding inconsistent email delivery reveals that many subscribers are not receiving newsletters due to aggressive spam filters from Gmail and Outlook. Large email providers often require "bribes" or high fees from services like MailChimp to guarantee delivery. The technical challenges of maintaining a direct connection with an audience via email are explored, including the risk of high unsubscribe rates when sending follow-up messages.

The No Agenda newsletter has experienced a significant drop in open rates, which the producers attribute to email providers like Google and Mailchimp flagging political keywords such as "Trump" and "Bondi." This suspected censorship impacts the show's "value-for-value" funding model, which relies on consistent communication with the audience. To combat these issues, the show is encouraging listeners to whitelist their emails and is exploring alternative distribution methods to ensure the program's financial sustainability.

The No Agenda newsletter suffered a delivery failure due to a MailChimp error that truncated the "from" address to "oagenda," causing it to be flagged as spam. Additionally, the hosts criticize Andrew Horowitz for placing the *DH Unplugged* show into the "YouTube ingestion hole," noting a lack of Podcasting 2.0 features.

The hosts deconstruct the "Value for Value" model, emphasizing the importance of the newsletter in reminding listeners to contribute. They discuss technical strategies like A/B testing and time optimization in MailChimp. They also note that certain keywords, like "Google" or "Republican," can trigger spam filters or shadow-banning in Gmail, requiring careful headline drafting.

The hosts discuss technical difficulties with their newsletter delivery, blaming MailChimp and the general "broken" state of email. They claim that companies like Substack and MailChimp must pay large sums to be "whitelisted" by Google and Outlook. A mention of Start9, a company providing hardware for home-based self-hosting, highlights the difficulty of running independent email servers in an ecosystem controlled by Big Tech.

New Associate Executive Producers are recognized, including Ryan Tierney and Sir Cal. Sir Cal reports ongoing issues with receiving the show's newsletter via MailChimp. The hosts suggest technical workarounds, such as using a different email address, to bypass aggressive spam filters that may be blocking the "Lavender Blossoms" proprietor's updates.

A technical glitch in the show's MailChimp newsletter caused a link to redirect to Deadline Magazine, leading to confusion among subscribers. The episode concludes with a final list of "value-for-value" donors from Raleigh, San Diego, and Houston. New knights are officially dubbed, and the hosts reiterate that the show relies entirely on listener support rather than corporate sponsorship.

The No Agenda newsletter faced delivery issues, with many copies being diverted to spam folders due to changes in Google's Gmail algorithms. The hosts discuss the "sad puppy" marketing tactic and the importance of the "ask" in non-profit and value-for-value donation models, noting that only about 4% of the audience typically contributes financially.

Technical difficulties with the No Agenda newsletter led to high unsubscribe rates after an emergency plain-text email was sent from a personal address. The discussion covers the complexities of email deliverability, including the "toll" paid to whitelisting services and the necessity of proper DMARC, SPF, and DKIM settings. Experts like Void Zero are cited as potential resources for fixing these authentication issues.

MailChimp suspended a host's newsletter account after the "Omnivore" algorithm flagged the terms "vaccine" and "experimental" in the same sentence. The discussion highlights the high costs of professional email deliverability, noting that companies like Podshow previously paid $20,000 to $30,000 monthly to avoid spam filters. Google and other major providers are described as competitors that prioritize their own marketing over third-party newsletters.

The hosts discuss technical issues with MailChimp, noting that the service often deletes subscribers who use "coded" or "dubious" email addresses. They speculate that this is because such addresses are less valuable for data mining. Additionally, they address a listener's request to "douche" Sir Patrick Comer for being "man overboard," though they express hesitation about douching a knight without more evidence.

The hosts discussed the importance of the show's newsletter as a reminder for listeners to support the "value-for-value" model. They addressed technical challenges with HTML emails and spam filters, noting that while some listeners prefer plain text, HTML is more effective for marketing. They recommended ProtonMail as a reliable alternative for receiving the newsletter and thanked several high-tier donors, including Tony Santos and Adam Barrett.

The hosts investigate why some subscribers are not receiving the show's newsletter, identifying Google's strict DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) policies as a likely cause. They discuss technical workflows for verifying email delivery and sorting user feedback.

An anonymous insider at MailChimp provides details on how the service manages IP address trust and whitelisting. The hosts explain that mass email services often face deliverability issues because they bundle legitimate newsletters with potential spam, leading to IP demotion by Gmail and Yahoo. They warn against centralizing email and discuss the technical hurdles of maintaining a "clean" mail server.

The hosts discuss the lack of security and guaranteed delivery in SMS and email systems. They explore how big providers like Gmail and Yahoo filter content, often requiring companies to pay high fees for "guaranteed" inbox placement. The segment also touches on MailChimp's flat-fee model and how it might lead to server overloads and missed newsletters.

Dvorak reports receiving suspicious emails from MailChimp, leading to a discussion about the history of the US Postal Service. The hosts decide to test the "General Delivery" system by having Dvorak send a letter to Adam Curry at a general Austin post office address.

Email marketing service MailChimp has begun removing accounts associated with anti-vaccination messaging. The move is framed as a "brand safety" measure rather than direct political censorship, as companies seek to avoid controversy associated with disinformation.

The hosts express disappointment over a low volume of donations for the current episode, speculating on whether the upcoming wedding or technical email issues are to blame. They discuss Google's increasing pressure on email servers to use TLS encryption, which may be causing the No Agenda newsletter to be flagged or blocked for some users.

Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak open the show on May 5, 2019, discussing various holidays including Cinco de Mayo and Liberation Day in the Netherlands. Dvorak reports significant delivery issues with his recent newsletter, noting that many Gmail users failed to receive it. They speculate on whether specific keywords like "bank passwords" triggered spam filters or if the inclusion of a photo of Dvorak's grandson, Theodore, affected the distribution.