Methods and apparatus for categorizing failure messages that result from email messages
View Patent ↗Techniques for classifying failure messages received from email messages that are sent are provided. A plurality of rules are created that are used to classify a plurality of failure types for email messages. Email messages are sent to an email address associated with an Internet service provider. When an email message fails, a failure message is determined. A rule that applies to the failure message is then determined and based on the rule, a failure type associated with the rule is determined. Once a failure type is determined, an action may be performed based on the failure type. For example, the email address associated with the email message may be marked as invalid.
1. A computer-implemented method for managing failure messages for email messages, the method comprising:
receiving, in a computer, a failure message from an Internet service provider (ISP) as a result of a failure by the ISP to deliver an email message to an email address associated with the ISP;
classifying, using a processor of the computer, a failure type of the failure using the failure message; and
determining, using the processor, whether the email address is invalid based upon the failure type and based upon the associated ISP.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying is based upon a rule selected from a plurality of rules, the method further comprising determining the rule from the plurality of rules based upon the associated ISP.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying is based upon a rule selected from a plurality of rules, each rule of the plurality of rules corresponding to an ISP.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying is based upon a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) code.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying is based upon a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) extension code.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying is based upon a search of the failure message using a regular expression.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein classifying is further based upon a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) code.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the failure message comprises a failure message that is classified before delivery of the email message.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the failure message comprises a failure message that is classified after delivery of the email message.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the failure message comprises a failure message sent by the ISP.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing information for the email address based on the failure type.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing information for the email address based indicating the failure message of the failure type was received.
13. A system for managing failure messages for email messages, the system comprising:
a failure message processor configured with logic, the logic configured to:
receive a failure message from an Internet service provider (ISP) as a result of a failure by the ISP to deliver an email message to an email address associated with the ISP;
classify a failure type of the failure using the failure message; and
determine whether the email address is invalid based upon the failure type and based upon the associated ISP.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the logic configured to classify a failure type is configured to classify the failure type based upon a rule selected from a plurality of rules, the logic further configured to determine the rule from the plurality of rules based upon the associated ISP.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the logic configured to classify a failure type is configured to classify the failure type based upon a rule selected from a plurality of rules, each rule of the plurality of rules corresponding to an ISP.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
receiving, in a computer, a failure message from an Internet service provider (ISP) as a result of a failure by the ISP to deliver an email message to an email address associated with the ISP;
classifying, using a processor operatively coupled to the computer, a failure type of the failure using the failure message; and
determining, using the processor, whether the email address is invalid based upon the failure type and based upon the associated ISP.
17. The medium of claim 16 , wherein classifying is based upon a rule selected from a plurality of rules, the method further comprising determining the rule from the plurality of rules based upon the associated ISP.
18. The medium of claim 16 , wherein classifying is based upon a rule selected from a plurality of rules, each rule of the plurality of rules corresponding to an ISP.