info@, sales@, admin@ - addresses that belong to a team, not a person. They are usually valid, but they carry more risk. This guide explains what they are, why they bounce and complain more, and when it is safe to send to them.
A role-based email address is tied to a function or team rather than a single person - info@, sales@, support@, admin@. Often a shared inbox or distribution list, which makes it riskier to send to than a personal address.
Role addresses receive more unsolicited mail and are marked as spam far more often. In our own data, info@ bounces roughly 4.5x more than a personal address.
A shared inbox may be read by everyone or no one. Mail can sit unopened, and engagement metrics suffer.
Abandoned role addresses are sometimes recycled into spam traps. Hitting one damages sender reputation immediately.
For cold outreach, a generic company address is harder to justify under GDPR legitimate interest and can raise CAN-SPAM/PECR issues.
The measured outcome gaps by address class are in our role-based and disposable email study.
Fine to send
Discount or suppress
BounceZero matches the local part against a maintained list of role prefixes and returns a role-based flag alongside the deliverability result. It does not mark them invalid - most exist - it labels the risk so you can keep, discount, or suppress them per campaign. Disposable and catch-all addresses are flagged the same way.
Related: what is a disposable email address and cold email verification.
A role-based email address belongs to a function or team rather than a person - info@, sales@, support@, admin@, billing@, hello@, and similar. It is usually a shared inbox or distribution list, so there is no single owner responsible for it.
Most role-based addresses are technically valid - the mailbox exists and accepts mail. The issue is not validity but risk: they bounce and complain more, are often unmonitored, and are sometimes used as spam traps, so they need different handling from personal addresses.
Generally no. Role addresses have higher complaint and bounce rates and are more likely to be spam traps, which hurts sender reputation. For cold outreach, suppress or heavily discount role addresses. For transactional mail and B2B support where the customer gave you info@ or billing@, they are fine.
A verifier matches the local part (before the @) against a maintained list of role prefixes and flags the address as role-based, separately from valid/invalid. BounceZero returns a role-based flag so you can decide per campaign whether to keep, discount, or suppress them - it is a risk label, not a verdict that the mailbox does not exist.
Every result carries risk flags, not just valid or invalid. 100 free verifications.
Start FreeDeep-dive guides on how email verification and inbox placement work
How the 5-stage pipeline checks a mailbox without sending email
Check if an email is real, valid or fake - free, bulk, or API, and how to read results
What caps accuracy (catch-all, probe blocks), and how to read a 99% claim
Permanent 5xx failures vs soft bounces, safe thresholds, and how to prevent them
The RCPT TO handshake explained - codes, catch-alls, limits
Why domains accept everything and how ML classifies deliverability
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