They didn't say it was unsolicited or unwanted. They just said if they could not unsubscribe in one or two clicks they'd mark it as spam, regardless if it was spam.
By clicking 'unsubscribe', the implied intent is that the email is unwanted. So I can either mark an email as 'unwanted' by clicking 'unsubscribe' or by clicking 'report spam'. I'll always give the sender the benefit of the doubt and try to unsubscribe, but if any action is required on my part other than clicking the link, I take the path of least resistance and simply click 'report spam'. Either way, I'll stop getting those emails.
Doesn't the fact that they immediately want to unsubscribe make it quite obvious that the email is unsolicited?
I have been getting spam from companies who obviously got my email address from someone who sold it to them, for quite a while now. Even though their messages have clear unsubscribe links, list real mailing addresses, and use reputable email marketing companies, that doesn't make it any less spammy.
> They just said if they could not unsubscribe in one or two clicks they'd mark it as spam, regardless if it was spam.
While I'm not limiting spam to this definition, spam is any email that cannot be unsubscribed to in one or two reasonable clicks. If I discover email I was getting is spam, I will mark it as spam.
That argument is pedantic and does not contribute positively to the discussion. Do you believe that the person talking about unsubscribe really means email from his mother-in-law?
Let's use our common sense, shall we? Do you think he marks as spam emails from his coworkers because they don't include unsubscribe links thar onl require one click?
If you don't think he meant that, let's not discuss it regardless of how one might twist his words out of context.
The person specifically said "any email that does not have a one-click unsubscribe". Two of the three categories I mentioned were not "emails from gramma" but that's the example you choose to focus on?
I really do think he means that he marks as spam messages that are not spam. And the biggest problem with spam prevention is the false marking as spam. It's much worse to miss a legit email than to receive spam.
> I really do think he means that he marks as spam messages that are not spam.
You honestly think I mark as spam receipts, emails I ask for, and email from friends? Did I really need to put the disclaimer in? I thought "While I'm not limiting spam to this definition," was enough.
Here, I'll help you.
Just to be clear, I also don't mark as spam email from my half-sisters, half-brothers, brother, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, step-mother, step-father, and my wife. Oh wait, forgot to mention all my cousins, and the rest of the family! Clearly, I must mark them as spam.
Because, no matter whether or not it's technically spam, people will stop sending such messages if they get "marked as spam" often enough. Either that, or GMail will start silently dropping their mail - either way, my inbox is clean. Making such a policy public can only help.
[Note that I don't mark such e-mail as spam, if only because there's no convenient way to do so over IMAP.]
I feel like the only reasonable response, then, is to start madking all email sent from people who believe this as spam, so they can get a sense of what this feels like.
Seriously, though: people who abuse the system like that,--whether they are giving products bad ratings for reasons unrelated to the product, using the PayPal dispute system as a threat (or seriously on everything they purchase from everyone online as it let's them get stuff for free), or downvoting comments on HN out of retaliation for a lost argument--need some kind of meta-moderation to keep their data from affecting the system.
I don't think that I was boasting. However, if it being seen as boasting leads to more companies allowing one-click unsubscribes, then I see it as a good thing.
I generally don't just mark messages as spam because I don't want them in my inbox - that's what archiving mail is for (things which I don't need to see but might want to look at in the future). Spam is for when I don't want to receive messages and I can't find a way to get myself taken off of the mailing list after reading through one of the messages.
