Mail Service Provider

Also called email service providers (ESP), are available to both individuals and commercial-level email users.  For individuals, this service provider is the organization that provides them with email servers to send, receive and store email communications. Many ESPs provide this service to the general public, such as Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail. Other ESPs may provide this service exclusively to members of their organization; these include email capabilities provided through schools, workplaces and other professional organizations. Through these provides, users may access their email via webmail, POP3 or IMAP protocols, depending on their provider’s preferences. Often, these email services for individual use have filters in place to prevent spam, and often do not allow their users to send bulk email through their servers.

Email marketers and other commercial email users benefit from commercial mail service providers. These allow the senders to send out mass email marketing campaigns, or use bulk email services.  These provides also allow their users access to tracking information– such as the status of sent emails to each mailing list member.  Users can also typically segment their lists into interest groups or categories, allowing them to tailor and optimize email marketing campaigns to meet target audiences’ needs.