“Blacklisted by SEM FRESH” – what it means
Verdict: Expires by itself. SEM FRESH lists domains registered in the last few days (FRESH: 5 days; FRESH10/15/30: 10, 15 or 30 days). Every new domain gets it, the listing expires automatically, and removal isn't possible – just wait.
What the warning checks
Spam Eating Monkey (SEM) runs "fresh domain" lists because spammers often use brand-new domains. Your domain is listed because of its age, not because of anything it sent.
Does it hurt email delivery?
- Major mailbox providers (Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo) show no sign of using it.
- Stock SpamAssassin rules don't use SEM lists.
- Rspamd (used by Mailcow and many self-hosted servers) adds 3.0 points for SEM FRESH15 – not enough on its own to junk a message (default threshold 6) – until the domain is 15 days old.
- SEM itself says its data should be used for scoring only, never to reject mail.
What to do
- Wait: the lookup at spameatingmonkey.com shows how many days are left on each FRESH list.
- If you plan a campaign with links to a brand-new domain, send it after the domain is 15 days old.
- Make sure SPF, DKIM and DMARC are right in the meantime – check your domain.
Check what actually matters
SPF, DKIM and DMARC decide whether Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo accept your mail.
After the fix, send a test email to see SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass on a real message, then keep an eye on it: free DMARC monitoring shows every service that sends mail as your domain and which ones fail, in plain English.
Get it fixed on Fiverr
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