u/pesito

Something I learned recently: when you copy a reply out of ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and paste it into a Mailchimp email, some of the chat window's own code often comes along.

You can't see it in the email, but it sits in the HTML: attributes and other class names that only those tools use.

One Mailchimp newsletter I got had ChatGPT's tags around its intro, position markers included (data-start="1648" data-end="1708"). And two of its logos had been copied out of an email in Gmail, leaving Gmail's own tag behind too (data-bit="iit").

Sometimes, the code tells a whole story about how the newsletter was created, so watch out 😅

I built a free Chrome extension called Email Detective (it shows which platform sent an email, how the authentication looks, and so on), and I just added a check for these types of leftovers.

https://preview.redd.it/wp98vm53r1th1.png?width=866&format=png&auto=webp&s=af01826f12d2a7ad1c4d6f7d78fe56f8f5283ab4

Open an email and it tells you if it still carries traces of one of those tools. It checks for Grammarly and Google Docs as well. Everything runs in your browser. Of course, you can also ask an AI of your choice, giving it the email's source code.

If you'd rather not leave traces, paste as plain text (Cmd+Shift+V on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows) and nothing comes along. It would also be good if Mailchimp's email editor could get rid of this when we paste.

Do you usually strip the formatting when you paste?

I’ve been analysing BIMI data from 1,200+ brands through Email Detective, and one result surprised me:

175 Mark Certificates, around 14%, are currently expired.

Some other interesting numbers:

• Around 90% of certificates where we could identify the issuer came from DigiCert
• We found 110 expired DigiCert certificates
• All 65 Entrust VMCs in our dataset have now expired after Entrust stopped issuing them
• Brands currently publishing expired certificates include Wells Fargo, Capital One, Booking.com, T-Mobile, Adidas, Binance, Hyatt and Monday.com

Some of them may be changing providers or stuck in the renewal process (or they have even forgotten to renew them). One VMC user told us their recertification took 7 months.

I am curious about your experience using a VMC. Have you been able to measure any actual benefit from the blue checkmark?

I kept clicking on ads in my Outlook inbox by mistake (the free web version). Outlook's own "Ad" label on sponsored emails is small and easy to miss, and otherwise the row looks exactly like a real message. Happened enough times that I built a Chrome extension to fix it.

It does two things: First, it shows the actual sender's logo next to every email in your inbox list, so you can spot who something's from at a glance instead of reading every line.

Second, it replaces the logo on sponsored rows with a bold "AD" badge, so you always know what you're about to click before you click it.

There's also a small popup with stats about your own inbox: your most-opened senders over the last 7 days, your busiest day for email, and how your mail splits between Inbox, Other, and Junk. All calculated and stored locally, nothing about your emails leaves your browser for that part.

It currently only works on outlook.live.com (the free Outlook version). 

It's called Sender Icons for Outlook, free on the Chrome Web Store.

Let me know if you have any feedback, happy to add more features. Or even make it work on the business version.

I spend a lot of time looking at what ESPs companies use. Got tired of digging through the email source every time, so I built a free Chrome extension that does it automatically.

It sits inside Gmail and shows you which platform sent each email. Mailchimp, Brevo, HubSpot, Klaviyo, whatever. It detects 140+ ESPs and also shows SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication status. It also shows if HTML builders like Stripo and Beefree have been used.

In addition, it can also check BIMI and whether a VMC exists. You'll also see the sender IP and whether it's a shared or dedicated IP setup.

https://preview.redd.it/dqfuy488o22h1.png?width=1512&format=png&auto=webp&s=a22dfe5e40237eaca6a875ce681a86d7fe28b278

It works by scanning the email source for ESP fingerprints (tracking domains, header patterns, sending infrastructure). No personal data leaves your browser.

Deliverability folks have been the most enthusiastic users so far, which is why I'm posting here. Please let me know if there's any information you would like to see in addition.

The extension is called Email Detective and it's free on the Chrome Web Store.

Currently my weekly users explode, I am at 1,000+ now. Seems great!

https://preview.redd.it/nnvxqr41mvzg1.png?width=1352&format=png&auto=webp&s=11c44a3c8f9813cbeaab2c0b933ba288a52da3d5

However, total (ever) installs are only at 486. Something's off.

https://preview.redd.it/ozaljrf4t10h1.png?width=2392&format=png&auto=webp&s=62cf9dd53717e2f270749dc71da61d21c7d76d05

Anyone else seeing this?

Quick share for Marketing Cloud users: I made a free Chrome extension that shows you which ESP sent any newsletter in Gmail.

So when you get, for example, another company's newsletter, you instantly see if they're on Salesforce too, or HubSpot, Mailchimp, Braze, or something else.

Salesforce MC detected in the wild

It also tells you if your authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) is set up correctly. On top of that, it can also check BIMI and VMC. Very handy if you want to check how you or your competitors have their setup configured.

It's free on the Chrome Web Store. All email content stays in your browser.