Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General
What is Clearout?
Clearout is a real-time email verification and cleaning service with the intention of increasing the deliverability and enhancing the sender reputation.
How are we different from others?
With our email cleansing service you will get:
a. 98%+ accuracy
b. Fastest turnaround time
c. Highly competitive pricing
d. Support to verify up to one million emails on a single list
e. Support for Yahoo + AOL verification
f. Simple and easy to use user interface
g. Dedicated email marketing support to increase ROI
a. 98%+ accuracy
b. Fastest turnaround time
c. Highly competitive pricing
d. Support to verify up to one million emails on a single list
e. Support for Yahoo + AOL verification
f. Simple and easy to use user interface
g. Dedicated email marketing support to increase ROI
Does Clearout offer a free trial?
Sure enough! Clearout wants our users to experience our awesome email verification service fully before they spend a single penny. Currently, Clearout offers 100 free credits which permits to verify 100 emails.
How often is email verification required?
Depends on the freshness of the result. It is highly advisable to verify before triggering any mass email blast to minimize bounces, improve conversion rates and stay on the good side of ISPs and regulators.
How accurate is Clearout?
Clearout email verification is 98 % accurate, providing the best in breed standard for measuring verifications and endorsed by thousands of satisfied customers.
Does it support verifying Yahoo and AOL?
Yes, currently we are at 96% Accuracy compare to other domains
How Does the Email Verification Process Work?
Our algorithms have been specially designed to deliver the maximum possible accuracy by doing; Domain Validation, Syntax Verification, Spam-Trap Removal, and Duplication Removal to clean up and verify the email lists. Clearout checks MX records validity as well as carry out bounce processing.
Can I verify email addresses in bulk?
Yes, you can upload a list of email addresses. Clearout can handle one million emails per list.
Can Clearout be used for real-time email verification?
Yes, absolutely!!! A lot of our users use our real-time API to verify the email address at the time of capture itself. Learn more about it - https://docs.clearout.io/
What turn-around time can I expect for real-time verification?
- The real-time verification takes less than a second for almost all major free email service providers such as gmail.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, aol.com which cover the maximum share of email population.
- Clearout has optimised the turnaround time even for the business email addresses created out of G-Suite, Microsoft Exchange Servers and Yahoo businesses too.
Is it required to download and install any software?
No. Clearout is a SaaS product. Just log in and go for it!
How can I validate the email addresses?
The email addresses can be validated in the following ways:
Instant Validation: where you will get instant results within seconds
Bulk Validation: where you can upload email list files up to 2GB which can have a maximum of 1 million emails per file.
Real-time Validation: where you can integrate Clearout API in any software to verify millions+ of email addresses in real-time.
Instant Validation: where you will get instant results within seconds
Bulk Validation: where you can upload email list files up to 2GB which can have a maximum of 1 million emails per file.
Real-time Validation: where you can integrate Clearout API in any software to verify millions+ of email addresses in real-time.
What is a typical batch turn-around times for email verification?
It depends on the size of your file and the type of data in your file. Generally, it takes about 3 to 4 hours to finish the validation of 1 million email addresses.
Does Clearout provide Gibberish Email checks?
Yes. A gibberish check is conducted to ensure that random email addresses are identified and shown separately. For example, [email protected] doesn't qualify to pass the test.
Why can't all gibberish email addresses be flagged?
Because there is no standard method for determining gibberish, especially in the case of email addresses, many detection algorithms produce more false positives or false negatives, making it difficult to identify the genuine email address. Furthermore, despite the fact that the IETF makes no mention of it, it was difficult to avoid including strict mode gibberish detection in Clearout because all major email service providers accept nonsense as an email local component.
Can a user Blocklist/Allowlist an email address/domain?
Yes, Here is how you can do it.
How does a user Blocklist/allowlist an email address or a domain?
The user can add the email address or a domain or multiple email addresses or domains from allowing/blocking to sign-up through their contact forms.The email address/domain can be added from "settings'' from your account. The expiry date for the same can be selected by the user. On expiry, the email address/domain will be added to the normal validation process. Here are the steps.
How to differentiate blocklisted/allowlisted results from actual verification results?
The user can check results in the “Activities” section. In case of blocklisted, the status will be "Invalid" and the safe-to-send will be "unknown," with the explanation "Email Address or Domain is Blocklisted" listed below. Whereas, if the domain is allowlisted, the status will be "Valid" and safe-to-send will be "unknown," with the rationale "Email Address or Domain is allowlisted" listed underneath.
Why does my Guaranteed Deliverables bounce ?
Below are the reasons why Clearout can't be 100% accurate with the claimed result;
1. Certain mail servers take a long time to propagate the email address state change. Performing validation against the mail server during this propagation period will lead to the wrong result.
2. Certain mail servers are protected behind the anti-spam firewall system, where the real status of the email address will be known only by sending an email to the address.
3. In case if the email address has forward rules configured, then the actual status of the email address won't be known, as it serves as a proxy.
4. Mail server configured for internal use and not following the standard mail protocols cannot be determined.
5. In case of certain Office 365 domains, the bounces cannot be identified without sending actual emails as the mail server responds that the account exists, but when trying to contact it bounces.
1. Certain mail servers take a long time to propagate the email address state change. Performing validation against the mail server during this propagation period will lead to the wrong result.
2. Certain mail servers are protected behind the anti-spam firewall system, where the real status of the email address will be known only by sending an email to the address.
3. In case if the email address has forward rules configured, then the actual status of the email address won't be known, as it serves as a proxy.
4. Mail server configured for internal use and not following the standard mail protocols cannot be determined.
5. In case of certain Office 365 domains, the bounces cannot be identified without sending actual emails as the mail server responds that the account exists, but when trying to contact it bounces.
Credits & Payment
How does free trial/credit works?
After successful sign-up, the user gets 100 free credits.
Any expiry date for the credits bought?
No, the credits will never expire.
How will Clearout charge to verify my emails?
Clearout charges only based on the credits you purchased. Pricing starts at one credit per verification , see our full price information here Pricing
What are the payment options I will get?
Clearout accepts all major debit and credit cards. Our payment gateways meet all the updated security standards.
What happens if I have insufficient credits?
Sufficient credit should be available in the account to start verification.
What will happen if I have lesser credits than the no. of emails under verification?
If credits fall short during verification, the verification will still complete, and required credits can be purchased during the download.
How does a user know that Clearout is secure to make any kind of transaction?
Our platform is 100% secure as it is powered by STRIPE, one of the best software platform for online payments, and is certified A+ by Quality SSL Labs.
Do I need to enter my credit card to sign up?
No, you can sign up and use Clearout without a credit/debit card. It is only required when you are ready to buy credits.
Is there a discount for students, nonprofits and start-ups?
Yes, there is! If you are a student or your company is a nonprofit or a start-up. Please contact our sales team to find out more [email protected]
What does the “Billable Email” mean ?
Any valid, invalid or catch-all email address is considered as a billable email. Duplicate emails and the once that are unable to be determined due to timeout or no response from mail exchange are not billable and the credits will not be deducted for those.
Plans & Pricing
What are the different pricing options available?
Keeping in mind the different requirements of the users, we provide the following prepaid plans:
- One Time/Pay As You Go - Add credits to your account anytime by making a one-time payment. View the prices here
- Monthly subscription - Pay a fixed amount once each month and we add credits to your account automatically. View the prices here
- Annually subscription - Pay a fixed amount once a year and we add credits to your account automatically. View the prices here
What benefits can a user expect from subscription plans?
A customer can expect multiple benefits:
- Discounts upto 40%
- The credits are carried forward and never expire
- Automated addition of credits in the user’s account
- Facility to upgrade or downgrade your plan anytime.
How should the existing customers go ahead?
The existing customers will be treated as a part of the ‘One Time/Pay As You Go’ plan unless they subscribe to any other plan. They can go ahead with subscribing to the plan that suits them the best.
Will the credits reset every month?
In all the subscription plans the credits get carried forward and never expire.
What to do if the credits for a month have exhausted but additional credits are required?
More credits can be added anytime by upgrading the subscription plan or by making a one-time payment
Can the plans be upgraded or downgraded? If yes, how?
The current plan can be upgraded or downgraded anytime. It can be in either way
- Upgrading/Downgrading within the current plan
- Upgrading/Downgrading from monthly to an annual plan or from annual to monthly plan respectively.
You simply have to cancel the current plan and subscribe to the desired plan.
On switching a plan, only the balance amount needs to be paid?
In case of any kind of switching, from a lower to a higher plan or higher to a lower plan, the user needs to pay the subscription amount in full. The subscription plans do not carry the option for a refund.
What is the billing cycle?
Billing for different plans-
- One Time/Pay As You Go - The bill will be generated at the time of purchase.
- Monthly subscription - The bill will be generated every 30-days from the date of subscription.
- Annually subscription - The bill will be generated every 365 days from the date of subscription.
Are there any customised subscription plans?
You may email us at [email protected] for custom subscription plans.
Email Validation
What is the difference between Valid, Invalid, Unknown or Catch-All terms in the report?
Every email is primarily categorized as either Valid, Invalid, Unknown or Catch-All.
Valid - After a successful SMTP transaction, if receiving mail server accepts the email address, it will be marked Valid Email Address. Sending emails to the addresses which are marked as "Disposable" is not recommended, even though the email address is valid.
Invalid - An email address will be marked Invalid if it is syntactically incorrect or an email account does not exist on receiving mail server.
Unknown - Sometimes receiving mail server responds very slowly or may temporarily be unable to process requests.
Catch-All - A catch-all email address is an account that receives emails sent to any incorrect email addresses of the domain. When configured, emails sent to any email address associated with the domain should not bounce, but in some cases, it may reject later.
Valid - After a successful SMTP transaction, if receiving mail server accepts the email address, it will be marked Valid Email Address. Sending emails to the addresses which are marked as "Disposable" is not recommended, even though the email address is valid.
Invalid - An email address will be marked Invalid if it is syntactically incorrect or an email account does not exist on receiving mail server.
Unknown - Sometimes receiving mail server responds very slowly or may temporarily be unable to process requests.
Catch-All - A catch-all email address is an account that receives emails sent to any incorrect email addresses of the domain. When configured, emails sent to any email address associated with the domain should not bounce, but in some cases, it may reject later.
How can I identify the email addresses that are safe to send?
Clearout performs advance level filtering on valid email addresses to filter out false positive and risky emails. This process identifies good quality email addresses to achieve the best deliverability and increases your email open rates. These good quality addresses are marked as valid with a deliverability scoring greater than 0.75. We strongly recommend using email addresses that meet above conditions while sending emails in bulk.
How should you interpret or use the scoring results?
Every address you verify will have a deliverability score (DS). Higher the deliverability score then the email engagement will be higher with lower the bounce rate.
Understand the DS value results for your email list:
DS: 1 is a highly deliverable mail address that will hit the inbox.
DS: 0.75 is a low-risk email address (domain blacklisted)
DS: 0.5 is a medium risk email address (domain blacklisted)
DS: 0.25 is a high-risk email address (domain blacklisted)
Even though the address is valid, the chances of hitting the user inbox may change based on the deliverability score.
Understand the DS value results for your email list:
DS: 1 is a highly deliverable mail address that will hit the inbox.
DS: 0.75 is a low-risk email address (domain blacklisted)
DS: 0.5 is a medium risk email address (domain blacklisted)
DS: 0.25 is a high-risk email address (domain blacklisted)
Even though the address is valid, the chances of hitting the user inbox may change based on the deliverability score.
Does an email address marked "Deliverable" have no chance of bouncing?
Depends on the freshness of the validated result, we can guarantee that more than 98 % of "deliverable" email addresses won't bounce
What does the "Unknown" status mean?
The "Unknown" status means both the possibilities exist: the email may be valid or invalid. This happens when the receiving server is not responding well. We recommend you to retry such emails after some time.
What does the “Catch-All status” mean?
Sometimes receiving mail servers are configured such that it accepts all emails sent to any incorrect email addresses of the domain. This can be usually seen in business email addresses. When configured, emails sent to any email address associated with the domain should not bounce, but in some cases, it may reject later. That is why the safe to send flag is marked as risky. We do not recommend to send emails to “Catch-All" addresses or send it slowly with caution. Deliverability for such addresses is not guaranteed.
What does the “Disposable Email” status mean?
There are certain service providers that generate temporary email addresses for a short period of time, like a few hours to a few days. Such addresses are known as "Disposable Email Addresses". Generally, disposable emails are created to receive initial account activation or confirmation emails for sites like discussion forums, e-shopping etc. and dispose off automatically after a given time period. Sending emails to such addresses increases the bounce rate so it is not advisable to send emails to "Disposable Email Addresses".
What does the “Role Account Email” status mean ?
Role-based email addresses are such emails that do not belong to individuals, but to a department, designation or company. The owner of Role-based addresses often changes. Further, the email may be forwarded to multiple recipients. Sending newsletters or campaign emails to such addresses may have a negative impact on your open rates or may lead to spam complaints. Hence, it is not recommended to send any promotional or marketing emails to Role addresses. Most email marketing services reject such role addresses.
What does the “Free Account Email” status mean?
Clearout detects if the email address is registered with one of the popular free email services, e.g. Google, AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo etc. This is important, because such addresses are typically personal email addresses, instead of work email addresses. Such addresses are safe to send emails to, but in many cases, engagement opportunities are higher with work email addresses than with personal email addresses.
What does the “Autosuggestion” status mean?
Every incorrectly typed email address is a missed opportunity for marketers to connect with their customers and prospects. Clearout has an in-built autosuggestion feature which checks in real-time, if there is a typo. The autosuggestion will provide an alternative spelling which is more likely to be the correct email address.
For example, if a user types the email address as "[email protected]", the corrected spelling "[email protected]" will be suggested.
For example, if a user types the email address as "[email protected]", the corrected spelling "[email protected]" will be suggested.
Is there any risk that the user IPs and domains get blacklisted by using Clearout service?
All processing is done on Clearout servers, the user IP addresses and domains are not affected in any way by the Clearout service - absolutely no blacklisting risk for the IPs and domains.
Does Clearout send any email to do the validation?
No, it doesn't. Clearout employs DNS and SMTP protocol functionalities to perform email address validations and absolutely avoids sending any email message to external mail exchangers for delivery.
What is the Maximum bulk validation queue limit?
Our email verification tool allows a maximum of 3 requests per user at a time in queue, whether it is in queued state or running
Verification Analytics
What does the “Performance Stats” mean?
Business critical KPIs can be effectively achieved with our detailed performance stats based on the verification. This is how we calculate the performance stats:
Total Verified = Total no of emails - no of emails categorized ‘unknown’
Bounce Detection Rate = (no of invalid emails / (no of valid and invalid emails)) * 100
Estimated Cost Saved is the heuristic way of determining cost incurred for sending emails without our validation, this involves multiple factors to find the actual cost saved.
Total Verified = Total no of emails - no of emails categorized ‘unknown’
Bounce Detection Rate = (no of invalid emails / (no of valid and invalid emails)) * 100
Estimated Cost Saved is the heuristic way of determining cost incurred for sending emails without our validation, this involves multiple factors to find the actual cost saved.
What does "Verification Analysis" mean?
Our email verification tool provides valuable insights for your verified email list.
Duplicate - no of duplicate emails in the list
Syntax - no of emails with syntax error in the list
Disposable - no of emails from disposable email providers in the list
Free Account - no of Free Account emails in the list
Role Account - no of role-based emails in the list
Duplicate - no of duplicate emails in the list
Syntax - no of emails with syntax error in the list
Disposable - no of emails from disposable email providers in the list
Free Account - no of Free Account emails in the list
Role Account - no of role-based emails in the list
What is Clearout Guaranteed Deliverables?
Email deliverability is the foundation of a successful email marketing program, a low rate of which indicates a weak strategy. We understand the importance of high email deliverability that's why we back up our verification results with a 97% deliverability rate guarantee. In other words, we guarantee that the bounce rate will not exceed 3% in case of messages sent to email addresses classified as Guaranteed Deliverables after verification by Clearout.
In order to fall under the 97% guaranteed rate deliverability, the following criteria should be met :
- Email address should be stated as Guaranteed Deliverable after undergoing a Clearout verification procedure.
- Email messages must be sent within 24 hours from the time of verification.
- Email addresses must have been acquired by the Opt-in process only. Email addresses acquired by purchased or rented lists are not covered under this guarantee.
- Free service providers such as Yahoo, AOL will not be covered
- Bounces resulting from technical issues, sender reputation being poor, recipient server reaching maximum receiving capacity, mail server being improperly configured, server not being available, or the recipient has specifically banned the sender's email identity, delivery blocked due to internal rules, etc. won't qualify for this guarantee.
Click here to learn more
HubSpot
How to create an app token for HubSpot forms?
Login to Clearout account, Goto Apps-->Click on 'Create App' and then choose run type as 'Client'. Give a suitable name, description to the widget and click on 'Create'.
How can I remove the “powered by Clearout” message from my HubSpot form after integrating with Clearout?
"Powered by Clearout" automatically gets removed once you make a purchase for any credit value.
Is there a way to add a single code to activate Clearout widget on all my HubSpot forms?
Clearout customised JS Widget will instantly apply the Clearout Email Validation just to the first HubSpot form on the page. Click here to learn more.
Do you provide test email addresses?
To confirm that your integration works as intended without incurring credits, use the test email addresses for all possible email verification results. Click here to learn more.
Can I add multiple HubSpot accounts with Clearout?
Yes, you can add multiple HubSpot account to your Clearout account by clicking on "Add Account".
How many list can I validate at a time?
Our email verification tool allows a maximum of 3 requests per user at a time in queue, whether it is in queued state or running.
Can I validate active list?
Yes, the active list from HubSpot crm can be validate and will be visible on the Clearout side after integration.
How does Unsubscribe work?
User can unsubscribe the invalid/non-deliverable email addresses on the HubSpot static list automatically which removes all the non-deliverables from the mailing list. The unsubscribe functionality does not work on a active list the email addresses in that list are part of other static lists.
Will the export replace my current data/fields?
No, the export option only appends Clearout result columns to your current list.
What is the validity of the app token?
The validity of the app token is lifetime until regenrated from the Clearout App.
Can multiple team members work from the same account?
Yes, Clearout offers team account option to manage your team with single log-in.
Privacy
Do the user need to be concerned about the privacy of the data while using Clearout?
Clearout is a SaaS tool operating according to EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards.
Clearout does not process or store email addresses for any purpose other than validation.
Clearout does not share our client data with any third party at any time.
Clearout does not process or store email addresses for any purpose other than validation.
Clearout does not share our client data with any third party at any time.
Is your service GDPR Compliant?
Yes, our service is fully compliant with the GDPR.
Do you share my email lists or use them in any other way?
No, never. No one other than you has access to your data/email lists.
Do you keep, sell or share data?
No, we don't.
How secure is my data?
Every data is highly secure with us, as we take security and confidentiality seriously. We know that the email lists are confidential and we do everything we can to make sure that they stay that way! Also, your data is never stored in our system for more than 30 days and if requested it will be removed immediately after processing. Once you finish using our system, all related to your account will be erased in a maximum of 30 days. Also, the information you share with us for payment purposes is encrypted and it is stored in a military grade secure system. We also go out of our way to protect your data and we developed advanced defense mechanisms against misuse, loss, unauthorized access, and improper disclosure. We want to provide the same security that we would want for ourselves. Our customers feel safe knowing that the best email verification service is also the most secure.
Support
I have a more specific question. What do I do?
Feel free to contact on Live Chat or shoot us an email at [email protected]