About this video

BillionVerify is not affiliated with or endorsed by GMX, Web.de, mail.com or T-Online. File verification needs a paid account.

Video transcript

1. 00:00Three routes

   Run a German list through verification and three names stand out. T-Online comes back unknown. GMX.com can get a firm answer. Web.de doesn't take that route. The route depends on where the mailbox lives. T-Online gets no live check at all. GMX.com and mail.com can go through an account lookup. Web.de and gmx.net don't use that lookup.

2. 00:28T-Online

   Start with T-Online. Its mail servers turn our checks away, so we don't connect. That tells you about the check. It tells you nothing about the mailbox. This follows the mail server, not only the address. A company domain that receives mail on T-Online or Magenta hosts lands here too. In your results, the status is unknown and the reason is tonline_egress_not_whitelisted. It uses no credit. A retry won't change it, so don't wait for one. So treat it as no evidence either way. Nothing says the address is bad. Put these contacts in their own group, send, and watch the bounces.

3. 01:05GMX.com and mail.com

   GMX.com and mail.com work differently. An account lookup can stand in for the mail server. An existing account comes back valid. A missing account comes back invalid. A failed lookup comes back unknown. The reason column shows which path ran. A found account reads unitedinternet_api_verified. A missing one reads unitedinternet_api_not_deliverable. Two failures look alike and act differently. An API error is worth another run. API unavailable isn't. It means the lookup couldn't be used, and repeating it won't help.

4. 01:41Web.de and gmx.net

   Web.de and gmx.net are the surprise. They belong to the same group as GMX.com, but that lookup is switched off for them. So don't expect the same firm answers. When a check is rate limited, greylisted or refused, you get unknown. That means no clear answer came back. It doesn't mean the mailbox is gone. Some of those deserve a second run. File jobs retry greylisting on their own, and a rate limit can clear. A refused check usually stays refused.

5. 02:11What to do with your list

   Now the list itself. Open the file job's CSV and sort by the ev_reason column. T-Online rows group together, and so does each kind of failure. Valid goes into your main send. Invalid comes off the list. T-Online unknowns get their own group. Web.de and gmx.net unknowns, and failed lookups, get one more run first, if the reason allows it. On cost, none of these unknowns use a credit. A firm answer from the lookup uses one. Run an unknown again and it's a fresh check, so a firm answer then uses one too. A German list won't come back all green, and that's normal. Read the reason as well as the status.

6. 02:53Get started free

   20 free credits every day you use your account, up to 600 a month. No credit card required. Start at billionverify.com.

Featured in this video

• GMX
• Why are iCloud (icloud.com / me.com / mac.com) addresses not marked "valid"?
• What does an "unknown" result mean, and what should I do with it?