• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, 11 hours ago

Many firms verify emails with one-time list cleaning or static deliverability checks. Data security firm AtData is trying a different method with its new tool Validation 2.0.  

Validation 2.0 draws on AtData’s behavioral activity network to provide intelligence-driven verification in real-time, the company says.

The new tool signals behavioral engagement, identity changes, disposable or bot-generated addresses and other threat indicators, it adds.

By integrating its scoring, monitoring and trust functionalities, the company supports better customer segmentation from the moment of email collection, AtData says.

"Email validation has long been treated as a simple hygiene task like checking a box,” says Brian Burke, vice president of product for AtData. “We aim to change that." 

How will this be done? By empowering marketers with “real-time, predictive insights so they can prioritize engaged consumers, suppress inactive or risky addresses, and cut through the inbox clutter with more confidence."

Certainly, threats abound. AtData recently identified three that should concern email marketers: 

Disposable email domains that are frequently used to bypass identity verification, showing a fraud rate of more than 70%. 

New address accounts created just days before a transaction  are 25x more likely to be fraudulent. 

Anonymized routing or VPNs -- transactions routed through international proxies are 3.7x more likely to be fraudulent.

It can be argued that these challenges cannot be overcome with traditional means. 

"This isn't list hygiene,” Burke concludes. “It's data-driven email strategy for the modern marketer that turns validation into a driver of growth, efficiency, and protection."