Our Location

Contact Us

Green Chair
Marketing Group
5808 S. Rapp St.
Suite 265
Littleton, CO 80120

Phone: (720) 922-3124

Does Your Host Fight Spam?

Virtually anyone with an email address knows what Spam is, and has, perhaps, considered giving up the speed, convenience, and simplicity of email because of it. Those who have their own websites are more vulnerable than the average person with a single work or home email address from their company or Internet Service Provider. Email addresses visible on a website can quickly become Spam magnets, as automated programs, similar in form to search engine spiders, roam the web, looking for addresses to which new broadsides of Spam may be fired. Website hosting companies generally provide their clients email accounts for use with their domain, but are you with a host that provides those email accounts with Spam and virus protection?

Local Blacklist Filters
Webmasters shouldn't need to seek out local filters for their site's contact email addresses. There are a variety of server level solutions a hosting company can offer to protect their users from unwanted emails. A most basic step is provision of a very rudimentary "blacklist" functionality to their users, allowing them to prevent future Spam emails from arriving from the same address. This type of filter is virtually worthless in today's Spam environment, though, as it is quite rare to see unsophisticated email arriving from the same address multiple times. Spammers have grown far more sophisticated than that. Blacklisting functionality is only really useful in avoiding email from other real people you don't particularly wish to hear from anymore.

Keywords and Regular Expressions
More advanced server level Spam filters are available. A small advance is accomplished using keyword filters. Keyword filters merely check for instances of a certain string of characters and deny the message if that string if found. The core problem with keyword-only filters is they can "over filter". Someone who puts "sex" on their keyword filter will find receiving local news and event announcements difficult if they live in a town named "Essex". Some filters attempt to address this deficiency by using "regular expressions" in order to build a sophisticated rule set to prevent Spam from reaching your inbox. Briefly, regular expressions are syntax rules used to identify certain strings of text or numbers. These rules can be set up to identify text patterns that are commonly used in Spam. They can become quite complex, but, as with most any filtering method, are not 100% bullet proof. Some filters that use regular expressions come with a basic set that can be appended by the user. Obviously this kind of feature is of little use to someone not familiar with regular expressions.

Bayesian Filters
Currently the most sophisticated filtering methods use Bayesian inferences. Bayesian filters take a large data set and determine the probability a message is Spam based on its similarity to previous Spam messages. The more emails that are processed and flagged theoretically make the filter more accurate. Services that provide filtering on an ISP or host level, like Postini's "SpamAway", filter billions of emails and provide the highest level of success and fewest "false positives". SpamAway is already highly intelligent about identifying Spam and doesn't require any "learning" commands or examples be provided. The online, browser based interface keeps flagged messages in an easily accessible "quarantine" and allows the user to check for any false positives. White list functionality is provided to aide in the prevention of future false positives. A hosting company offering such an advanced service takes Spam and virus filtering for their customers seriously.

Mr. Lester has served for 4 years as the webmaster for ApolloHosting.com and previously worked in the IT industry an additional 5 years, acquiring knowledge of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support.


RELATED ARTICLES
How to Choose a Web Hosting Company?
Nowadays, anybody can afford to order a feature-packed web hosting plan for next to nothing; however, affordable price is not the only criterion which should be considered when purchasing web hosting services. In this article, I'll explain the basics of what you should look for in choosing a web hosting company, not just concentrating on the best price and features, but also on reliability and honesty.
The Perfect Support
Hosting Support - An IntroductionImagine yourself as a person running a small-medium sized online store that concentrates on affordablly prized gift items, and say, it's Christmas time. Everybody is on a shopping spree, and you have been waiting for this vacation to arrive, as it is the time of the year when your business really blooms, and with which's revenues you have got to plan for the year to come.
Windows Hosting versus Linux Hosting - Which is right for you?
There are literally hundreds of thousands of web hosting companies out there. Many of these companies offer both Windows hosting and Linux hosting plans.
How To Choose A Web Host That Meets Your Needs
One of the most difficult choices you have to make when starting an online business is to choose the web host that meets your needs and budget. Throw in the search term "web hosting" into major search engines and you will see what I mean.
Tips on Finding a Hosting Service for Your Business Website
There are so many hosting companies offering to host your website for you that the choice may seem a little bewildering. If you are determined about having a successful internet business then you need to consider seriously which hosting company you are going to use for your website.
Choosing the Right Web Host
Whatever type of website you want to host, choosing the correct host can be tricky. Most hosting companies offer you more than you will ever use, their sales staff recommend high-end packages for small websites.
Virtual Private Servers (VPS) Web Hosting
A Virtual Private Server (VPS), also referred to as Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), provides the features of a dedicated server for multiple web hosting customers to share. At first instance it sounds contradictory, how can you have a dedicated server if it is being shared by multiple users? Isn't that a regular shared or virtual hosting environment? It is true that with a Virtual Private Server you still share system resources like the CPU and RAM with other users but the resources are allocated in such a way that you cannot tell that the system has anyone else on it, much like a dedicated server.
Web Hosting: Shared or Dedicated - Which Should You Choose?
Before you begin your search for a web host you should first determine whether you need shared web hosting or dedicated web hosting.A shared web hosting account is an account on a web server that hosts other shared accounts.
Choosing a Right Hosting Solution
You must have done all the hard works for developing your website but when it comes selecting your host you may face trouble that it does not have all the features which is required by your site. I know there are 100's of instance where a newbie or startup website owner suffered heavy losses in terms of money, delayed projects, financial debts and other things.
Managed Hosting Services - Who Benefits from It?
Managed Hosting Services are used primarily by companies that either don't have staff with the expertise to manage a dedicated server or don't have staff with the time to attend to the needs of managed hosting. In either case the option of having the host manage the server can be of great value to firms that have such needs.
How To Find The Best Web Hosting For You
Deciding on the best web hosting company for a web site is often difficult if an individual isn't sure what they should look for in their web hosting company. Examining the promotional material and information of most web hosting services can make choosing the best web hosting service a time consuming challenge.
Attracting Extra Web Hosting Customers By Targeting Cities, i.e. New York Web Hosting
These searchers are looking for a hosting company in a particular city, state, or country, but given the proper message they can often be convinced to try your hosting company. Afterall, given the nature of the web hosting industry, the actual location of your web hosts is not that important.
Web Hosting Help - What's Bandwidth
Bandwidth can make all the difference when choosing where to host your websiteA common mistake made by so many people when looking to choose a web host company is not asking about bandwidth. After spending so long designing or with a developer designing your web site you do not want to see a good web site ruined and only viewed by a handful of people at a time.
Finding a Home for Your Internet Enterprise - A Point by Point List
After much Net surfing and looking at all the offers you've decided to take the plunge! You've investigated a good name for your idea. You've decided it's time to start searching for a home for your Internet vision.
Linux vs. Windows Web Hosting, Does It Make A Difference?
One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web hosting will have to make is which platform their server should be on. There are a number of different choices out there but the main two are Linux and Windows web servers.
Elements of Web Hosting
When you first start out trying to get a site on the Internet everything seems so confusing. Obtuse acronyms flow freely through the 'Beginner Friendly' information sites and definitions can be hard to come across.
Cheap Web Hosting, What To Look For And What To Stay Away From
"Bargains for sale, Unlimited Hosting for only a Dollar.""Get your hosting here, 50 cents for the first three months.
Uptime Guarantee - Good Idea?
When looking for a Web Host there are lots of factors that come into play. Usually the deciding factors are price and bandwidth.
Cheap Hosting Packages and Low Cost Web Hosting - Watch For Hidden Costs
If you're shopping around for an affordable web hosting plan, knowing what services you want and what you should pay for them can help you pick out hidden costs that could launch your cheap hosting plan into an expense you just can't afford. Here are a few things to be on the watch for when you're shopping for the best low-cost web hosting plan for your personal or business web site.
Use Your Hobby To Launch A Successful Website
When you study the really successful websites, you will quickly notice that many are based on seemingly strange subjects, many of which may not easily pass for a serious business.This clearly underlines the fact that when it comes to online enterprises and ecommerce, the possibilities are endless and you can actually succeed at virtually anything.