Email link blacklist checker: are the domains in your email on a URI blocklist?
In short: Finds every linked domain in a pasted email, adds your click-tracking domain, and looks each one up on URIBL and the NordSpam DBL, with Spamhaus DBL and SURBL linked to their own lookups. Limit: Up to eight linked domains a run; Spamhaus DBL and SURBL are linked to their own lookups, not queried.
Spam filters look up every domain an email links to on URI blocklists, not just the domain it was sent from. Paste the email's HTML or text and add your click-tracking domain: each linked domain is cut to its registered domain and checked live on URIBL and the NordSpam DBL, up to eight a run, with listings named.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. See pricing
Your sending tool rewrites links to its tracking domain on send, so that domain is in every email. It is checked first.
Sample result
4 linked domains checked on URIBL and the NordSpam DBL, tracking domain first.
- Linked domain
- example.com
- Links to it
- 2
- Lists queried
- URIBL, NordSpam
What this means for you
One listed link can send a clean email to spam. Replace any link to a listed domain before you send.
- Paste HTML, text or .eml
- Tracking domain checked first
- Listed only on a real listing
- 8 domains a run
- Blacklist
- Links
- URIBL
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated
How do I check if the links in my email are blacklisted?
- Paste the email's HTML (in most platforms: export or view the HTML source) or its plain text, or upload an .html, .txt or .eml file.
- Type your click-tracking or sending domain in the optional field. Sending tools rewrite every link to it on send, so it is in every email.
- Press Check the linked domains. Each domain shows Listed, Not listed, Partly checked or Couldn't check.
- Replace or remove any link to a listed domain, then look the domain up on the list's own site for the reason.
Example
- You enter
- A newsletter's HTML with links to
example.com(twice),bit.lyandwww.example.org, plus the tracking domaintrack.example.nettyped in. - You get
- 4 domains queued in this order:
example.net(typed in, checked first),example.com(2 links),bit.lyandexample.org(1 link each). Each is looked up live on URIBL and the NordSpam DBL and shows Listed, Not listed, Partly checked or Couldn't check, with the lists named; Spamhaus DBL and SURBL are linked, not queried. - Limits
- Up to 8 domains a run; the lookups allow ten a minute per visitor. Only the domain names leave your browser.
Why do the links in an email matter for blacklists?
Domain blocklists, also called URI or RHSBL lists, list domains seen in spam: the links in the message body, not the server that sent it. A filter such as SpamAssassin's URIBL plugin extracts every domain in the body and queries the lists, so one link to a listed domain can mark an otherwise clean email. A link shortener, a free file host or a click-tracking domain shared with spammers is the usual cause.
This tool reads links the way the email link checker does, then sends only the domain names to the same lookup as the domain blacklist check: URIBL's public mirrors and the NordSpam DBL. A domain is reported as not listed only when the list also answered its own test entry, so a refused or dropped query shows as Couldn't check rather than clean.
What if my tracking domain or a link is listed?
If it's a domain you don't control, such as a shortener or a third-party file link, link to the real page on your own site instead. If it's your own domain or your custom tracking domain, find the cause first: lists add domains after spam trap hits and complaints, so a removal request without a fix tends to be relisted. Each list's own lookup page explains its codes and removal steps, and how to get off a blacklist covers the order to do it in.
Spamhaus DBL and SURBL are the two most widely used domain lists, but their terms only allow free queries from non-commercial or free-of-charge services, so they aren't queried here. Look the domain up on their own sites; the domain blacklist check links to both.
Which tool checks what?
| This tool | Email link checker | IP blacklist check | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads the links in an email | Yes | Yes | No |
| Domain blocklists (URIBL, NordSpam) | Yes, live | No | No |
| Shorteners, mismatched and broken links | No | Yes | No |
| Sending server's IP on DNSBLs | No | No | Yes |
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Email marketers
- Check a newsletter's links and the platform's tracking domain before a large send.
- Cold emailers
- Make sure the one link in a first-touch email isn't on a list, along with the custom tracking domain.
- Deliverability consultants
- Rule linked domains in or out when a clean, authenticated email still lands in spam.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- Spamhaus DBL and SURBL aren't queried live; their own lookup pages are linked instead.
- Up to eight domains a run, ten lookups a minute per visitor.
- Links are read as written; tracking rewrites added on send are only checked if you type the tracking domain in.
- A clean result covers the queried lists only; filters also use private reputation data.
Common questions
- What is a URI blacklist?
- A list of domains seen in the links of spam, queried over DNS by spam filters. URIBL, SURBL, Spamhaus DBL and the NordSpam DBL are the common ones. They list domains, not IP addresses; the sending server's IP is checked against different lists.
- Why only eight domains a run?
- Each domain is a live DNS lookup on our server, limited to ten a minute per visitor so the lists' free-use terms are respected. Check the rest one at a time in the domain blacklist check, or run again after a minute.
- Does it check my click-tracking domain?
- Only if you type it in. Tracking rewrites links when the email is sent, so a pasted draft still has the original links. Enter the tracking domain in the optional field and it is checked first.
- Is the email uploaded?
- No. The email is read in your browser; only the domain names, up to eight, are sent to our server for the blocklist lookups. Nothing is stored and no link is opened.
- Why does a domain show Partly checked?
- One of the queried lists didn't answer or refused the query, and a missing answer is not a clean result. Run it again later, or open the domain blacklist check for the detail from each list.
Sources
Authentication and capacity are half of deliverability.
The other half is who you send to. Every hard bounce counts against the domain and inboxes you are sending from, and nothing in DNS can tell you which addresses on your list are dead.
- Bulk verification with real SMTP mailbox checks
- Hard bounces removed before a send, not discovered after
- Catch-all, disposable and role detection on every row
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.