In addition to the standard email validation results, MailboxValidator has introduced 2 advanced features which will help users make a better decision on which email addresses are valid. The first one is called the MailboxValidator Score while the second is called the Catch-All detection.

MailboxValidator has created a sophisticated algorithm to calculate this MailboxValidator Score which is essentially an email address reputation score. Higher scores indicate that the email address is valid and has a higher deliverability probability. On the other hand, lower scores mean the opposite.

Scores are categorized into 3 distinct sections. What is considered a good score is anything above 0.70 while scores that are below that threshold but greater than 0.40 are categorized as fair. Scores of 0.40 or below are poor.

This level of granularity will help the user make a better decision as opposed to just reading the status field which just states either valid or invalid. With this score, the user can have a better idea on what is their threshold for their email deliverability.

MailboxValidator users who practice good email hygiene like double opt-in, respecting unsubscribe requests and so on would be able to just accept the higher scores as anything below would definitely be an outlier and therefore should be treated as invalid.

Meanwhile, users who are not so diligent in maintaining their lists (or who have questionable practices) would probably end up with mostly lower score email addresses in their list. In this scenario, it is up to the users if they wish to accept more risk of bounce or being blacklisted. If so, they can opt to include the lower score email addresses when performing their mailing campaigns.

A catch-all email address just means that the particular email domain will accept all emails sent to that email domain regardless of the recipient. In reality, your email could still bounce depending on the recipient email server configuration. Or if the email address doesn’t actually exist, your email might just be redirected to the trash. So if you choose to send an email to a catch-all email address, you could be just wasting your money if you are using an email sending provider. Unless you are very certain that the particular email address is going to a real person, it is best to remove any catch-all emails from your mailing list.