Free email providers do battle again
Published November 15, 2007 by Me
It seems that Hotmail and Yahoo! are at it again. Hotmail used to reject some messages sent from Yahoo! Groups because they exceeded 15 “hops” (the default limit set on Exchange Server to prevent mail loops, which Hotmail refused to reset to a higher, more appropriate level – See here for a brief explanation from Indiana University). This would happen most often in Yahoo! Groups that moderate messages, since the moderation process causes more hops within Yahoo’s system.
So, Yahoo! Groups went ahead and made some changes to the way hops information is presented in Yahoo! Groups mail headers, so that this 15 hops limit should no longer be an issue. These changes should mean far fewer bounced messages to Hotmail members.
Of course, Hotmail fought back – In the last couple of weeks Hotmail has adjusted their filters in a way that is pretty much blocking all “invitations” sent from Yahoo! Groups. And despite Yahoo!’s attempts to get them to stop this blocking, it has yet to be lifted.
And the winners in this? Well, it’s certainly not Hotmail, Yahoo!, or their users. Why, it’s Googlemail, of course!
