methodology / Email & Communications / #85

Email forwarding service detected (improvmx, forwardemail, etc.)

live factor #85 · Email & Communications · scoring impl: implemented · weight 0.3%

What we measure

Email forwarding services (ImprovMX, ForwardEmail, Pobox) bounce mail through a relay before delivering it. Convenient for solo operators, but they break SPF/DKIM authentication and damage deliverability over time.

How to improve your score

Switch to direct hosting (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Fastmail). Forwarders are fine for personal use; not for a business expecting reliable delivery.

Data source

Data source for this factor is not yet documented.

Implementation notes

Pattern-match MX targets against known forwarder domains.

Scoring

Scoring formulas are versioned with the methodology. The current method (v1.1.0) maps raw measurements to pass, warn, fail. Factor weights determine how much each contributes to the composite — see the methodology index for the full table.

Version history

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