How many email recipients can I send to at once Yahoo?

The following is an excerpt from Spam Nation by John Barrett. In it he explains how spammers are able to get around SPF protection that's supposed to prevent them from being blocked by Gmail filters (as well as other SPAM blocking services). The solution is simple--just use another service like Yahoo! Mail instead of Gmail. Here's what happens when you try to bypass this limitation using Yahoo! Mail.

A few years ago, the Internet was abuzz over news that an enterprising hacker had developed software capable of automatically generating thousands of e-mail addresses for the purpose of creating large mailing lists. This allowed him to send out millions of junk e-mails without having his IP address associated with any particular user account or domain name. To accomplish this feat, the hacker created a program called "Nlist" which used random data generated by Excel spreadsheets. He then uploaded these files onto several servers around the world where they were stored until someone downloaded them into their own computer systems. As soon as users opened up Nlist, they would see dozens upon hundreds of new e-mail accounts populating Outlook folders. Each folder represented a different list containing hundreds of names and e-mail addresses. By simply typing in the first couple letters of each recipient's last name, the system quickly populated all available characters to create unique e-mail addresses. These could easily have been forwarded to unsuspecting victims who didn't realize they'd fallen victim to such a sophisticated scam.

While Microsoft took steps to curb this problem through its Hotmail service, hackers learned ways to circumvent various technologies designed to block unwanted e-mail. One way involved setting up multiple computers running Windows operating systems throughout Europe and Asia. They would randomly generate new e-mail addresses and forward the same message to numerous domains. Once received by the intended destination server, the message would bounce back to the originating machine, effectively wiping out the offending e-mail addresses and preventing further forwarding attempts. Another trick involved spoofing the return path information embedded within outgoing e-mail headers. When transmitted, the header contained instructions telling the target server exactly where to direct the response back to after processing the request. If the spoofed information was altered slightly, the original server wouldn't recognize the reply as coming from the client attempting to initiate the connection. Because no acknowledgment ever came back, the sender never knew if his message actually reached the intended party.

One reason why anti-spam technology has failed so miserably thus far may lie in the fact that most ISPs don't employ strict enough measures to stop abuse. For example, some providers allow customers to sign up for unlimited incoming connections while others give users access to only 500 total lines per month. While we're not suggesting that anyone should attempt to hack Yahoo!, let alone gain unauthorized access to the company's internal network, the ease with which spammers have managed to infiltrate certain ISP networks suggests that there might be loopholes worth exploiting. After all, if spammers can penetrate major carriers' security measures, imagine just how vulnerable Yahoo!'s defenses must be.

Fortunately, Yahoo! isn't completely defenseless against this threat. Unlike AOL, MSN, and Earthlink, which provide limited features for controlling your personalization settings, Yahoo! allows subscribers to customize their homepage content via the Web interface. The downside to this convenience is that users unwittingly expose themselves to potential attacks if they aren't careful. Most of us know that viruses often come disguised as innocent attachments buried deep inside documents attached to e-mail messages. But even though we've become savvy to common tricks played by scumbags looking to infect our machines, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones.

So how does Yahoo! keep itself safe from cyber criminals seeking to exploit its network vulnerabilities? More importantly, how did the company devise a strategy to combat the growing number of malicious programs targeting its clients? Find out next...

Yahoo! Mail provides two convenient options for bulk importing contacts from external sources. You can either import entire contact lists or individual records based on people's full names. Once the desired file format (.csv) is selected, click the Browse button under Contact Lists to select the appropriate directory. Then hit OK. A dialog box will appear asking whether you want to add existing contacts to your Yahoo! Address Book or start fresh. Click Yes if you need to make changes to your current contact database. Next, choose the CSV file you wish to import into Yahoo!. Finally, input your password and check the boxes marked Encrypt my Contacts and Import Selected Only before clicking Submit. Your imported contacts will now populate the respective fields on your main page.

Note: Even though Yahoo! Mail offers a feature allowing users to set up rules for filtering incoming e-mail, these filters cannot detect forged addresses. Therefore, if you plan on regularly sending out massive amounts of unsolicited commercial e-mail (commonly referred to as "SPAM"), you'll probably want to avoid using Yahoo! Mail altogether. Otherwise, it won't matter whether you follow the guidelines outlined below because your messages will still end up in the Junk E-Mail folder.

If you really insist on remaining anonymous, however, you can always take advantage of the free version offered by Yahoo! Messenger. It lets you chat online with friends and family members without revealing your real identity. Simply download and install the messenger application from the website, register with a valid username and password, and enjoy instant messaging functionality. Unfortunately, Yahoo! Message doesn't offer any tools for managing your contacts. So if you happen to receive lots of personalized greetings, you'll have to wait patiently till you log off for dinner before deleting those pesky new entries.

How many emails can I send at once with Yahoo?

When signing up for Yahoo! Mail, you'll find yourself presented with a screen requiring confirmation of your subscription before you can begin accessing your inboxes. On this page, you'll notice a link labeled Send Email Now located right beneath the textbox requesting your user ID and password. Hit that button and the site will open a window prompting you to compose your very first electronic correspondence. At this point, you're given three choices regarding the size of the resulting archive: 50 Messages, 100 Messages, or Unlimited. Select whichever option works best for you. Regardless of the amount chosen, you'll be required to pay $4.95 monthly fee.

Once you confirm your payment details, the site will immediately go ahead and process your credit card transaction. However, since the charges haven't yet gone through, you won't be able to retrieve your receipt. Instead, you'll have to call 800-867-1842 to activate your membership. Once again, please note that due to technical limitations, you won't be able to delete archived e-mails once they've accumulated. That means you'll have to stay vigilant and refrain from hitting the big red DELETE key whenever you catch yourself wanting to purge old messages.

Can you do a mail merge with Yahoo email?

Yes, but only if you're prepared to shell out extra money for premium web hosting packages. Since Yahoo! Mail currently runs exclusively on servers provided by Verizon Online Inc., any third-party developers wishing to write applications geared toward Yahoo! Mail clients must secure permission from the provider prior to proceeding. Consequently, Yahoo! Mail hasn't approved any mail merges on its platform.

As mentioned earlier, you cannot perform a mail merge directly from Yahoo! Mail's built-in editor. The closest thing to matching a prewritten template with customized contact information involves downloading a contact management tool such as InfoMall [http://www.infomallsoftware.com]. This popular product takes care of everything related to maintaining a complete record of every customer relationship including their home pages, recent orders, subscriptions, etc. Although InfoMall is compatible with both Mac OS 9.x and 10.x, it requires Java 1.5+ support to run properly. Without Java enabled, you won't be able to view or edit any contacts saved in your InfoMall profile unless you also have Sun Microsystems' JRE installed.

Users interested in learning more about InfoMall's capabilities may visit http://www.infoallsoftware.com/web_hosting/free_download.html. This informative resource includes detailed tutorials detailing how to upload custom HTML templates and modify contact profiles. Other useful tips include how to change the background image of your homepage, insert images, and alter the color scheme. Also included is a small sample HTML document demonstrating how to integrate InfoMall software with Yahoo! Mail. Downloading this tutorial file will save you hours of trial-and-error experimentation.

You can also purchase additional products aimed at improving overall performance of Yahoo! Mail. These range from customizable themes and plugins written in JavaScript to enhanced search functions. Some examples include EasySearch [http://easysearch.yahoo.com], which makes searching for specific words much easier by placing highlighted results above your regular searches, and YSlow [https://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/],which helps optimize your browsing experience by reducing page load times.

How do I send a mass email and hide recipients in Yahoo?

Yahoo has recently changed its policy for what it considers "spam" and now blocks all but the most basic form of commercial e-mail marketing. If you are using their free mail service (which is called Yahoo! Mail), they will not allow any kind of unsolicited bulk mailing -- including mass distribution lists. You cannot use this feature if your account uses another ISP's SMTP server. However, if you have your own domain name (for example, mycompany@yahoo) then you can set up your mailbox so that anyone who sends you an email can also receive replies back directly into their inboxes. This allows you to build large mailing lists without breaking the rules established by Yahoo. In addition, there are some other features which make it easier than ever before to send out email newsletters to as many recipients as possible. These features include automatic reply functionality, multi-sender support, and easy unsubscribe options. With these tools at your disposal, you should find yourself able to quickly establish your company newsletter system with minimal effort. The following sections explain each tool in detail.

How do I send an email to multiple recipients in Yahoo?

The first step is creating a new message window within your online webmail client. From here, go ahead and fill out the details such as recipient(s)' names, subject line, etc. Next, click on the Send button next to Compose. A pop-up box containing several tabs displays. Click on the drop down menu under Recipients. Once this page opens up, you need to select either Add People... or Create Group... depending upon whether you want to add specific contacts or just create a brand new list of addressess. After making your selection, hit Save As New List.... Under the Options tab, choose AutoReply. Hit OK when ready. Now every person who sends you an email will automatically be added to this list. Depending upon how many people you wish to add, you may see a warning message saying that too many users were selected. Simply uncheck those boxes until only the correct amount remain checked.

After adding your recipients, simply type out your email content and press Send. When finished, check off the Reply All option below the text editor field. Then you can view the results in your Sent folder. Any replies received via Yahoo will show up in the appropriate folders. Note that although Yahoo does not block incoming email messages, it seems that they have placed filters inside their network that often prevent certain types of outgoing messages from being delivered properly. It appears that messages like our test sample above had problems getting through. Unfortunately, we could not determine why this was occurring because the servers did not provide access logs. We recommend testing your outgoing messages frequently, especially during peak times. Also note that the ability to send messages to multiple recipients simultaneously depends entirely upon your Internet Service Provider. For best performance, always ensure that both you and the provider adhere strictly to Yahoo's guidelines regarding unsolicited mailings.

How do I send an email to multiple addresses in Yahoo?

If you would rather manually enter multiple addresses instead of having them auto-added, you can easily accomplish this task by clicking on Tools & Preferences followed by Email Settings. On the resulting screen, scroll down until you reach Advanced Features and look for Multi-Recipient Support. Select Yes and continue. Repeat steps 4 and 5 above for each additional address.

Note:  YMail offers two methods for doing this. One method involves pressing Shift+F9 while composing. Another requires selecting File > Print Preview > Edit Address Book.

How do I create a group of recipients in Yahoo Mail?

As mentioned earlier, Yahoo prohibits the creation of user groups unless you control your own domain. By default, Yahoo creates a special category for members of your list. However, if you still want to take advantage of this function, follow these instructions. First open your main Yahoo Mail inbox on your desktop computer. Go to Account " View Your Profile. At the bottom right corner of the browser pane, you'll notice a small icon indicating More Actions. Clicking on this link pops up a pulldown menu where you'll see four items. Choose Groups. Under Other Users, input the email addresses of everyone on your list. Make sure that whenever someone receives an email with your group label attached, they get the standard confirmation code displayed on their end. Finally, choose Enable Global Search Filters. This ensures that all future members of your group will appear together in search listings.

Once you've completed these steps, you should be well prepared to start building your massive mailing list. To expedite things even further, consider installing the Yahoo Mail Plugins Manager Toolbar [No Longer Available]. This handy little applet lets you install dozens of useful extensions right onto your toolbar. Some of the plugins available include RSS Feed Watcher, Quick Links Bar, and My Contacts Panel Pro.

How do you send email to 2 or more recipients at the same time?

For fast batch delivery of emails, Yahoo provides an excellent solution known as Batch Sending. Although Yahoo doesn't offer any sort of automated filtering technology, it does allow users to schedule individual messages with multiple recipients at the same time. The interface is simple enough that nontechnical professionals shouldn't have much trouble learning how to use this feature. To activate Batch Sending, open up your Composer window and go to Tools & Preferences. Scroll down to the very last section labeled Miscellaneous and make sure that the radio button beside Scheduled Delivery Time says Off. This disables scheduled deliveries altogether. Otherwise, you might accidentally trigger the feature.

Now that you're familiar with everything else, let's try scheduling a few quick emails to various friends and colleagues. Type something silly in the Subject line and compose a short personal greeting. Hold Ctrl + C to copy the body of the message. Right-click anywhere on the clipboard and paste in the addresses of your intended recipients. Above the Paste area, hold Shift key and left-click. Doing so copies the contents of the clipboard to the Clipboard History. Press Enter after pasting your contact information. Upon completion, you'll see a dialog box prompting you to confirm that you really want to run the command. Click Run. Yahoo will prompt you to close your current session and restart. Accept it. Now, every time you launch Yahoo Mail, you'll see a popup asking whether or not you'd like to enable Batch Sending. Select Yes.

When you finally decide to turn it off again, simply go back to Tools & Preferences. Unmark the Schedule Delivery checkbox and save changes. Close your session and repeat the process anytime you feel the urge to send out a bunch of emails. Remember that Yahoo won't actually deliver anything until you tell them otherwise. So don't forget to cancel your scheduled sessions before going home for the day.

To learn lots more about Yahoo Mail, be sure to visit the official Yahoo website. And remember that with Yahoo Mail, you don't have to worry about losing important files, attachments, and documents stored in your account. That's because Yahoo backs up your data daily, hourly, and weekly. Best of all, Yahoo Mail integrates seamlessly with the rest of the popular Web portal. Try accessing news stories, weather forecasts, stock prices, sports scores, movie schedules, local events calendars, and more straight from the comfort of your couch.

If your company is using Yahoo Mail for its e-mail services and if you have any reason to believe that some of your users might use it as their primary mail client or are otherwise connected to Yahoo's servers, then you should know this: In order not to violate anti-spam laws, Yahoo has set strict limitations on the number of messages an individual user may receive simultaneously (or "bulk") without prior approval.

The general rule is that Yahoo will only allow each account holder to send out 200 messages per day -- including attachments -- before they must go through the verification process. However, the specific rules vary depending on whether the recipient uses Yahoo Mail primarily on his/her desktop computer or mobile device:

Desktop Users

Yahoo allows Desktop Users unlimited simultaneous messaging per month. This includes both incoming and outgoing messages. You also don't need to verify your identity when sending these messages. These messages cannot contain links and include file attachments larger than 100 MB. If you want to restrict the size of files attached to your outgoing messages, please see below.

Mobile Device Users

For Mobile Device Users, Yahoo restricts total messages sent during a billing period to 200. The first 50 messages sent by a Mobile User can consist entirely of text body content, but no attachment larger than 20MB can be included. Attachments over 1GB require authentication. Please note that if you choose to enable security features such as two factor authentication, all message sizes will be limited accordingly.

These restrictions are intended to prevent spammers from abusing Yahoo Mail accounts. They apply only to new accounts created after July 28th 2011 and do not affect existing users who already had permission to send large volumes of mail. We hope you find them helpful!

Now let me show you exactly what kind of email we're talking about here...

Here's a sample of a typical daily inbox from my own Yahoo Mail account:

Of course, this isn't just junk that came into our mailbox. It contains real messages from friends, family members and colleagues. But take notice of where those green dots appear -- every single one of those icons represents something that was received within the past five minutes. That means that even though my Gmail box looks like this, I've actually been able to read messages faster than other folks because I'm not waiting around for anything to download.

So now you understand why Yahoo imposes limits on how much email you can send at once. But does that mean you won't ever get to read any of the email that comes into your mailbox? Not necessarily. There are several ways to circumvent these limitations so long as you follow certain guidelines. Here are three methods you could try.

How many emails can I send with Yahoo?

First off, let's talk about what happens when you exceed Yahoo's limits. When someone sends you too many messages, the service automatically flags your address as potentially being fraudulent. Then it gives you five days to respond and click a button labeled "Send Bulk Email". Once you confirm that everything is legit, Yahoo lets you resume normal traffic levels.

However, if anyone else tries to log onto your Yahoo account while it's flagged, you'll be asked to enter your password again. And if you forget, Yahoo says it will lock your account indefinitely until you figure things out. So make sure nobody gets access to your Yahoo account except yourself (and maybe the IT department).

Another way to bypass the limits is to create multiple fake profiles under various aliases. For instance, you could register dozens of different addresses, each one containing up to 200 messages. Just be careful never to check your flag status unless you absolutely have to. Otherwise, somebody might steal your legitimate alias and open up shop under your name.

Lastly, you could simply forward messages to another address. Most providers offer free forwarding options. After verifying your identity, Yahoo would permit you to continue sending as many messages as you wanted to whoever needed them most.

You'd be wise to keep track of which forwards are used so you wouldn't accidentally double dip. Also, remember to delete old records whenever you finish testing this method. Don't expect this technique to work forever since eventually Yahoo will catch on and block all forwarded emails.

Can you send mass emails with Yahoo?

There were times when I wished there was a way to quickly blast lots of people with the same information via email. Unfortunately, Yahoo doesn't provide a convenient solution for doing this. While Yahoo offers business packages designed specifically for companies looking to engage clients online, none of those plans support automated mailing lists.

That said, you can still use Yahoo Mail to broadcast news and updates to everyone in your organization. Simply compose an announcement and attach it to an email message addressed to everybody who needs to know. Make sure to tag the subject line appropriately so that people searching for keywords related to your update can easily locate it. Be warned, however, that you can't search for particular individuals inside of this type of message. Only generic terms such as "Manager" or "Employee" will bring results.

Is there a limit to how many emails can be sent at once?

Yes, unfortunately there is. According to Yahoo, the maximum amount of email messages allowed per hour is 150. By comparison, Gmail caps itself at 60. As far as I know, Hotmail doesn't impose any sort of limitation. The main difference between Yahoo and Hotmail lies solely in how fast the web app displays data. Yahoo loads pages slower than most others.

I suppose it shouldn't surprise us that Microsoft took a very liberal approach to Internet email. Remember Live Writer? Well, that feature ended up becoming MSN Mail, which is basically Outlook Online. On top of that, Hotmail users could store gigabytes worth of photos and videos right on the web portal.

As you probably guessed, I personally prefer Google Apps' unified interface rather than Yahoo's clunky look. I think it makes sense to stick with a provider whose products integrate seamlessly together.

How can I send bulk email in Yahoo?

Unfortunately, Yahoo provides very little guidance regarding how to send huge numbers of emails at one time. Its help section merely states that you'll run afoul of regulations if you attempt to send more than 200 messages per day. Beyond that point, you'll either need to verify your identity or switch to a paid plan.

Despite that warning, I managed to successfully send thousands of messages with ease. Of course, I didn't always get good performance. Sometimes the system slowed down considerably, especially if I tried to send hundreds of identical messages. Still, overall I found it quite easy to handle big batches of mail.

To begin, start composing your email in plain HTML mode instead of Rich Text. Next, select View -& Formatting Options -& Compose Mode dropdown menu and change it to Plain Text. Doing so causes Yahoo to strip away extraneous elements that slow down load speeds. Click the Send Now icon next to the preview window to launch the actual transmission.

Keep in mind that if you send hundreds of messages in rapid succession, the chances are high that Yahoo will flag your address as suspicious. To avoid this situation, I recommend changing your outgoing server settings to SMTP Relay. Then, configure Yahoo to deliver your messages via port 25. Finally, add your domain to Yahoo's Safe Senders list.

Afterward, you should revisit Yahoo's Help Center page to learn more about bulk emailing. If nothing else, you might consider trying Yahoo's Business package. With it, you'll gain access to tools such as automatic reply functionality, autoresponders and event scheduling.

Have you ever encountered problems with Yahoo's limits? How did you manage to break past them? Share your experiences in the comments area below.