Help me decipher LinkedIn's messaging Algorithm

[xtopzi]

Hey guys,

I've been using LinkedIn to generate leads. I must say, it's a fantastic tool to get into contact with business owners.
On my first and original account, I was able to send 42 messages to persons that were in the same group as me. Without me knowing, the rest of the messages I sent never reached. I only found this out later as they weren't in my sent mail box.

What I did was just create a fresh account, apply to a new group and start again. Unfortunately, this didn't work either.
From any fresh account, I simply can't sent messages (at least not straight away). Today, 7 days after the last successful message was sent, I seem to be able to send again.

Here's my findings:

• I don't reckon LI cares about IP at all. I've created about 60 accounts with a bot from all different IP's, logging in cross-ip and even into my original account. Been showing some highly suspicious IP behavior and still I can send from my original account.
• A fresh account can't send messages straight away (only to group owners of groups that are pending). I'll check daily to see if theres a time limit when this bar is lifted.

If anyone knows more about LI's messaging algorithm, I'd love to hear.

 

[xtopzi]

Little update:

Today, I was able to send 73 messages to other group members from my original account. Funny thing is, the group I used to send 42 messages to back on the 23 of april is still blocked. This basically means that when I go to that group > members, I can send a message to someone but it doesn't actually reach them (yet it tells me "message has been sent"). These don't appear in my LI sent mail box either.

The fact that I wasn't able to send any more messages to group A made me think it's a group thing. I tested this by creating a group from account 1 and inviting account 2. Guess what, they still couldn't message each other from the members tab.

So after testing almost every possibility, I now think it is definitely a time-related issue. I logged in to an old 2011 account that I dug up and was able to message my other accounts from the test group. So now I'll just wait and see how many days have to go by before I can send messages on my fresh accounts.

Although I think its a time issue, the whole LI algo still seems odd to me. Why was I able to send 42 messages to group members from group A, then get limited (couldn't send ANY messages, not even replies) and then after 7 days (or less, dunno) the site-wide bar is lifted with the exception of original group A?
And why was the messaging bar lifted in the first place? Because time went by or because time went by + a natural stream of replies to my message, taking away my 'possible spammer flag'?

If anyone has a bunch of aged LI accounts (10 days+) I'd love to buy them + the email accounts to do some testing with.

 

[brockmeister]

I think it is a great idea for community members to share what they have learned about LinkedIn messaging algorithms. Here are some things I have figured out:

• New LinkedIn accounts aren't allowed to send messages to fellow group members for some sort of time period. I haven't figured out exactly what this time period is. It seems to be variable. Some of the accounts I create can send messages after a month, others seem to take 6 to 8 weeks to become "active". Also, the message failure is hidden. LinkedIn reports that the messages were sent successfully, and they sent message even shows up in the sent folder. However, the recipient will never receive the message if the sender was a new account. I wonder if LinkedIn might even actually deliver some number of messages for relatively new accounts but then silently fail to deliver any additional ones beyond a certain number. I haven't done enough testing to see if this is the case.
• Accounts will be restricted if they send too many messages in 1 day. Sending over 500 messages in a day is asking for trouble. 300 should be pretty safe.
• Logging into multiple accounts from the same PC or device will get all the accounts restricted because of cookie tracking.
• If too many messages are sent from the same IP address all the accounts that send messages from that IP address in the future will be restricted (even if cookie tracking is disabled).
• If there are too many page views for an account on any given day it will be restricted. The 10,000 page view area is a definite danger zone. I try to keep the page views to less than 8,000.
• Carrying out actions too quickly will result in an account restriction. For example, if you send 200 messages just seconds a part your account will likely be restricted.
• If too many people flag the messages sent from any given account as "SPAM" the account will be restricted. I have no idea what the magic number of SPAM flags it takes for a restriction.

I am eager to hear what other people have learned about LinkedIn algorithms. I know that they have changed things early in 2013. I am getting accounts restricted at faster rates than ever before this year. I don't think I have figured out all the algorithm changes.

Here are just some of the things I would like to know:

• Does LinkedIn count how many messages are sent in consecutive days or just look at daily totals?
• Are accounts that are used on systems that block cookies flagged for special attention (i.e. and get restricted more easily)?
• Does is it matter if the same number of messages are sent each day? Is it better to have random numbers of messages sent each day?
• Do they look for common text across messages from different accounts, restricting accounts that are sending similar messages that other accounts are sending?
• Do they count how many "failed" messages there are (to people who block in-group messaging for example)?

I am happy to share findings about LinkedIn algorithms with people in person too. Just PM me if you want to talk.

 

[xtopzi]

 

[brockmeister]

I typically send personal messages to members of groups inviting people to join new groups. I never send connection requests. I have sent up to 2000 messages a day, across a variety of accounts.

Like I said earlier, I have been struggling with a lot of account restrictions this year. Something definitely changed regarding LinkedIn policies.

I know that IPs can get black-listed. An IP address I used for months early in 2012 can no longer be used. Even if I login to a completely rebuilt PC (i.e. with no previous cookies, etc), using a brand new LinkedIn account, that account will become restricted as soon as I start sending messages on that IP (it takes a few days for the restriction to occur, but it will happen). I now use a wide assortment of IPs so that there isn't a large volume of messages coming from a single IP.

 

[Logger]

Hi guys, I have had same problems with LinkedIn.

• Last night logged into accounts which were 2 months old and some of these still could not send group messages
• Had load of accounts created last week. Properly filled out, work exp etc - the full hit, email verified and 4 of 5 were banned before I even tried to send a message. I did send 3000 LION invites. Wondering if that is it
• Update on IP - for first time last week I had accounts banned as said looks like I am logging into multiple accounts with same IP.

Be interested in how we are all progressing with this.

 

[garrypalomo]

Hey guys,

I've been using LinkedIn to generate leads. I must say, it's a fantastic tool to get into contact with business owners.
On my first and original account, I was able to send 42 messages to persons that were in the same group as me. Without me knowing, the rest of the messages I sent never reached. I only found this out later as they weren't in my sent mail box.

What I did was just create a fresh account, apply to a new group and start again. Unfortunately, this didn't work either.
From any fresh account, I simply can't sent messages (at least not straight away). Today, 7 days after the last successful message was sent, I seem to be able to send again.

Here's my findings:

• I don't reckon LI cares about IP at all. I've created about 60 accounts with a bot from all different IP's, logging in cross-ip and even into my original account. Been showing some highly suspicious IP behavior and still I can send from my original account.
• A fresh account can't send messages straight away (only to group owners of groups that are pending). I'll check daily to see if theres a time limit when this bar is lifted.

If anyone knows more about LI's messaging algorithm, I'd love to hear.

These are great tips, any updates on current limitations for the Linkedin messaging algorithm? I'd love to know more about your results since these last few posts were written.

 

[Spawn]

I hammer li and have no problems. I have some great tips but I'm on iPad and in bed

 

[originalposter]

What about upgrading to premium account? I believe that will allow you to send X amount of messages to people who aren't in connection with you. However, this is obviously the expensive route. But if you have targeted clients in mind, it might be worth it afterall. Just thinking out loud here.