False negative
In email marketing, a false negative is an unwanted message that the spam filter fails to detect and that reaches the inbox
What it means, how it is used and where it comes up, with its related concepts.
What it is and how it works
It is the opposite error to a false positive: the filter lets through something it should have blocked. It happens because spammers change their techniques to get around filtering criteria.
Mailbox providers reduce false negatives by combining sender reputation, domain authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), content analysis and the spam reports users make, from which filters learn. In statistics and other fields, a false negative is more generally a result indicating that something is absent when it is in fact present.
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