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Don't Use "This is Spam" to Unsubscribe

By Heinz Tschabitscher, About.com Guide

Many email services like AOL, Gmail, MSN Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail let you report spam using an easy to use This is Spam button.

The This is Spam button is not only easy to use, it is also quite effective. The emails you report are used to tweak the spam filters so that they catch the type of email you reported in the future.

Don't Use This is Spam to Unsubscribe

This efficiency is the reason why you should make sure you

  • use the This is Spam button only for spam.

In particular, reporting newsletters you have once signed up for but don't want to receive any more can have negative consequences:

  • Others who have signed up for the same newsletter (and still want it) may not receive it any more because it's filtered away since you reported it as spam.
  • The opposite is also true: others may report your favorite newsletter using the This is Spam button and you may suddenly stop receiving it.
  • If the This is Spam button is used for lots of legitimate emails, the email service providers may get more hesitant about implementing any changes based on user submissions.
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