Microsoft SNDS Deleted Spam-Trap Data (July 2026) — What to Monitor Instead

Short answer: the only free spam-trap feedback loop from a major mailbox provider is gone. On 22 July 2026 Microsoft removed the trap-hits column from the SNDS (Smart Network Data Services) Data Report. Senders who relied on it to catch dirty lists early now have a blind spot — one you have to reconstruct from indirect signals.

What SNDS still shows

• Complaint rates for your sending IPs (still valuable — keep your SNDS access).
• Message volume and filter verdicts at Outlook/Hotmail.
• What's gone: the count of messages hitting Microsoft's trap network — historically the earliest hard evidence of purchased/scraped/decayed lists.

The replacement signal stack

1. Trap-adjacent blacklists: lists like SpamRATS and Spamhaus feed heavily on trap hits — a listing there is now your earliest external trap indicator. Continuous checks turn them into an alert instead of a quarterly surprise. (Check yours now.)
2. Bounce forensics: rising unknown-user rates predict trap density (traps are often recycled dead addresses). Watch the 5.1.1 rate per segment.
3. Authentication + reputation hygiene: with less shared data, receivers weight their internal models harder — SPF/DKIM/DMARC alignment and consistent volume matter more, not less.
4. List-hygiene process: verification services on import, sunset policies for non-engagers — prevention is the only complete replacement for the lost detection.

Aurelius watches the blacklist layer of that stack continuously — 10 lists including the trap-fed ones, with alerts the sweep a listing appears. Free for 2 domains.