2025-04-23: Global Email - VerifyMailBox Change

2025-04-23: Global Email - VerifyMailBox Change#

Global Email - VerifyMailBox Option - Default Change#

After years of service, we have come to the understanding that accuracy is of greatest concern for most users of Global Email Web Service.

Beginning October 2025, we are changing the default VerifyMailBox value to Premium which prioritizes accuracy but may increase latency for requests.

If your team needs assistance preparing for this change, please feel free to reach out to our support team for assistance.

Will I Be Affected?#

Any application using the following endpoint without specifying a VerifyMailBox value will be affected:

https://globalemail.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/GlobalEmail/doGlobalEmail

The VerifyMailBox option is documented here: Global Email Reference Guide - VerifyMailBox Option.

How Much Work is Involved?#

If you do not set VerifyMailBox explicitly in your application, you should set it if you wish to keep the current behavior. This is as simple as modifying or adding the opt key-value pair.

  1. If your request looks like this:

    https://globalemail.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/GlobalEmail/doGlobalEmail?format=json&email=testinggews_express@example.com&id={{key}}

  2. Consider adding a VerifyMailBox setting to the opt parameter to continue using Express:

    https://globalemail.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/GlobalEmail/doGlobalEmail?opt=VerifyMailBox:Express&format=json&email=testinggews_express@example.com&id={{key}}

  3. You may also choose to use Premium (this will be the new default):

    https://globalemail.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/GlobalEmail/doGlobalEmail?opt=VerifyMailBox:Premium&format=json&email=testinggews_express@example.com&id={{key}}

This is also a good opportunity to review our other available options! Read more here: Global Email Reference Guide - Options.

What Will Change If I Don’t Do Anything?#

If you do not specify a VerifyMailBox option currently, requests will become slower on average but return more accurate results.

What will my users see?#

Results will be as fresh and accurate as possible.

Batch jobs will become slower on average and may time out more often depending on your application timeout settings.

Point of Entry applications will become much slower in some cases; Point of Entry applications (web pages, forms, etc) may be best left on Express for a snappy user experience.

What are the specific differences?#

These are the changes developers should expect and account for.

  • VerifyMailBox:Express (current default)

    With the current default VerifyMailBox setting, which you are using, you will see lightning-fast results at the cost of accuracy, especially for new data.

    • Response times are normally between 50 - 150ms.

  • VerifyMailBox:Premium (new default)

    With the new default, you will observe many of the lightning-fast results you received before this change.

    However, some requests will take many times longer, if we need to retrieve real-time data from a mail server.

    • Response times are normally between 50ms - 5,000ms.

    • Some responses may take as long as 25,000ms by default, depending on the mail server.

If you use the TimeToWait option, this can be set between 5 and 45 to change the maximum number of seconds that Melissa will wait for a real-time result (your application code timeout should be set slightly higher).

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Thank you for your attention to this update. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Tech Support at Tech@Melissa.com or call 800-MELISSA ext. 4 (800-635-4772 ext. 4).

Thanks,

The Melissa Team

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