---
title: Acceptable Spam Complaint And Failure Rates
description: Specific details regarding acceptable spam complaint and failure rates, as described in our Acceptable Use Policy.
---
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# Acceptable Spam Complaint And Failure Rates
## Specific details regarding acceptable spam complaint and failure rates, as described in our Acceptable Use Policy.
The [SocketLabs Acceptable Use Policy](http://www.socketlabs.com/legal/aup/) states:
**Your email must not generate excessive complaints as determined by the sole discretion of SocketLabs.**
**Your email list must be valid and not generate excessive failures as determined by the sole discretion of SocketLabs.**
There is not an exact percentage point at which a spam complaint rate or failure rate becomes in violation of our Acceptable Use Policy. We analyze every aspect of a stream of messages including type, content, volume, complaint rate, engagement rate (opens, clicks, and unsubscribes), and other factors to determine if our Acceptable Use Policy has been violated.
### Complaint Rate Best Practice
While mailbox providers will provide a buffer of 0.03%, or 3 complaints per 10,000 messages delivered to account for false positives, SocketLabs recommends keeping your calculated spam complaint rates below 0.1%, or 1 complaint per 1000 messages delivered. The likelihood that our compliance team will reach out or take action with your account significantly increases as your rates increases beyond 0.1%.
### Failure Rate Best Practice
SocketLabs recommends keeping your failure rate below 5%. As failure rates exceed 3% to 5%, the likelihood our automated abuse detection systems or compliance department will take action regarding the status of an account increases significantly.
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