The Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti‑Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) recently released guidance regarding cold email practices.
Key points include:
- Unsolicited and deceptive cold emails are considered abusive
M3AAWG emphasizes that sending unsolicited emails specifically when paired with deceptive delivery methods such as misleading headers, lookalike domains, or masked sending infrastructure falls into the “abuse” category. These practices harm sender reputation and reduce deliverability. - Industry best practices are evolving
M3AAWG encourages clear identification of senders, proper opt-in processes, and adherence to ethical messaging standards.
The guidance reinforces that responsible email marketing prioritizes consent and transparency. - Broader scope beyond email
M3AAWG continues to provide recommendations for mobile messaging, malware prevention, and domain abuse, highlighting the importance of a holistic anti-abuse strategy.
Bottom line: M3AAWG’s recent statements underline the risks associated with unsolicited emails and reinforce the importance of following best practices to maintain deliverability, trust, and compliance.
Editor’s Note (Updated September 2, 2026): Following a senior editorial review, this article has been updated to clarify M3AAWG’s specific stance on cold outreach. While M3AAWG’s baseline messaging guidelines maintain that explicit opt-in consent is the industry gold standard, this specific position paper appears to have been written to target cold email senders using deceptive tactics to disguise bulk unsolicited campaigns as personal one-to-one emails. To accurately reflect the scope of the document, we replaced “OR” with “AND” (“unsolicited and deceptive”).
