Spam News

Spam you asked for (or didn't): Gmail offers email auto-unsubscribe

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Spam is subjective. Email users who sign up for an email newsletter or mailing list only to be inundated with messages may consider it spam, while others may find it useful. In the fight to de-clutter the inbox, Google's free webmail Gmail is now helping users unsubscribe to lists.

The Gmail help site says that the auto-unsubscribe tool will pop up for users who mark a message from particular types of mailing lists as spam. Clicking the Unsubscribe button will automatically send a request to the sender that your email address be removed from the list.

If the particular message is a misuse of a mailing list you like to receive, the Report spam button will block that type of message, Google said.

Gmail won't always provide the Unsubscribe option - for lists that are known to be owned by spammers, unsubscribing requests would provide the spammer with confirmation of an active email account.

Meanwhile, email marketers will be working hard to keep hitting you up with newsletters and other pitches. According to Borrell Associates, email advertising is now the top form of online advertising.

Borrell expects email marketing spending to grow to $15.7 billion over the next five years, Mediapost.com reported.