In the never ending battle against spam there are always new technologies being created to help block or filter the enormous amounts of email people, businesses and organizations receive. The battle is for all parties involved. Whether you are the recipient or the sender, the battle is being fought by all.

In the world of email newsletter marketing it is important to be aware of the different ways of combating spam. If you do email marketing, whether it’s newsletters or ezines you are just as responsible for combating spam as the next person, company or organization.

One of the ways people fight against spam is by using what is called a whitelist. A whitelist is a list of email addresses that have been given permission to bypass all spam blockers and filters that may be set up by the email provider or ISP.

A whitelist is like a “members only” list. The whitelist enables the email user to select email addresses or domains to bypass all spam blockers or filters. The whitelist is usually created from the setting of the email control panel. It is also created or added to, when the email user chooses to whitelist email addresses they compose or reply to.

When it comes to email newsletters and ezines you want your subscribers to whitelist your domain, company or organization. In some cases, in order to be whitelisted, you may have to go through a series of test and have to register your domain with the recipient's ISP. Once this is done your ezine or newsletter will bypass any spam security that maybe in place.

So, when having people sign up for your email newsletters or ezines it is a good idea to make the suggestion of adding your email address to their whitelist or allow lists. Different email providers have different names for whitelisting. It is also a good idea to have an explanation of your privacy policy. A privacy policy can protect against spam and also identity theft.

Know that there are different types of email whitelists. One is called non-commercial whitelist. This whitelist is used or operated by non profit organizations or other entities interested in the battle against spam. Instead of charging a fee, they have the sender pass different tests in order to be added or received.

The other is called a commercial whitelist. This type of whitelist is usually used by companies. By paying a fee the company is ensuring that their emails or newsletters are reaching their customers without being blocked. The fee is paid to an ISP that will allow company emails to bypass spam blockers.

Then, just for reference, there are LAN whitelists, which are set up by network admins to control who is on their networks. Program whitelists are lists of software program titles that are considered okay to use. Application whitelists are lists that deal with software that are designed as an effort to combat viruses and malware.

So, again, the best case scenario for your email ezine or newsletter is to have your subscribers include your email address or domain on their whitelists. This way they will be guaranteed to always receive what they have signed up for and your ezine or newsletter will always be protected from ever being flaggged as spam.