Pavel Stoletov
Author

Pavel Stoletov

CTO | Email Verification & Deliverability Engineering

CTO at EmailShield leading verification and deliverability engineering. Architected the multi-port SMTP pipeline, domain-grouped catch-all probe system, and self-hosted proxy infrastructure that EmailShield runs in production.

Articles by Pavel

Catch-All Email Verification: Why Most Verifiers Return "Unknown" and How to Validate Properly [2026]

Most email verifiers return "unknown" on 15-30% of B2B lists because catch-all domains accept every SMTP probe with a 250 response. Compare how EmailShield, ZeroBounce and MillionVerifier handle catch-all detection differently.

May 19, 2026

Cold Email SPF, DKIM and DMARC Setup Guide [2026]

Complete 2026 setup guide for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on cold email domains. DNS record syntax, the 10-lookup limit, the policy ramp from p=none to p=reject, validation playbook, and the verification step most operators skip.

May 19, 2026

How Email Verifiers Work: Real SMTP Verification vs DNS-Only Lookups [Technical Guide 2026]

A technical breakdown of how email verifiers work under the hood. Compare real SMTP handshakes vs DNS-only lookups, see why DNS-only tools cap at 91-94% accuracy, and learn how EmailShield's 4-stage pipeline hits 99.8% verified accuracy.

May 19, 2026