Bounce backs explained A bounce, or bounce-back, is an e-mail that is returned to ShortBurst because it cannot be delivered for some reason. There are two kinds of e-mail bounces: A hard bounce is an e-mail message that has been returned to you because the recipient's address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur because the domain name doesn't exist, the recipient is unknown, or there's some type of network problem on the recipient's end. What action is taken by ShortBurst? Shortburst will remove any hard bounces from your mailing list. A soft bounce is an e-mail message that gets as far as the recipient's mail server, but is bounced back before it reaches the recipient. One of the most common causes for a soft bounce is a full mailbox. What action is taken by ShortBurst? Shortburst will remove any soft bounces from your mailing after 2 soft bounces. What can you do to reduce bounces? Introducing a double opt in system for your mailing list will ensure the email addresses in your list are correct as the confirmation email will have been delivered to the recipients email address and the recipient would have to click on the confirmation link to be successfully subscribed. Also, check any bounced email address in the reporting tool. Sometimes you'll also see a few e-mail addresses that are obviously misspelled (e.g. "person123@aolcom" -- note the missing dot) and you can fix them yourself manually. © 2008 ShortBurst Ltd.