According to data from newsletter specialists, the average person receives over 80 emails a day, with around half of them expected to be spam.
That’s a lot of email to sort through just to get to what you actually want to read.
But when should you hit spam, when should you use the unsubscribe button, and what’s the difference?
What unsubscribing actually does
For email you opted into like newsletters, store promotions, and online service updates, the best way to stop receiving them is to use the unsubscribe button.
Unsubscribing sends a removal request directly to the sender’s mailing list platform.
Legally, senders are required to respect the unsubscribe request. The Spam Act 2003 covers unsolicited messages and states that commercial emails must contain a functional way to unsubscribe from the list.
It normally takes a few days to come into effect, but once you’ve used the unsubscribe button, the platform will no longer send emails.
Unsubscribing doesn’t affect your email client in any way, nor does it train your spam filter, but for genuine commercial communications it’s the best way to deal with emails you no longer want to receive.
What marking as spam actually does
If you’re receiving emails you never opted in to, or a platform continues to email you after you’ve unsubscribed from a mailing list, marking as spam is a good option.
This signals to your email provider that the sender is unwanted and trains the filter both for yourself and for others on the platform.
If enough people report a sender for spamming, their delivery reputation takes a hit and their emails may end up blocked for everyone.
However, it does not remove you from the mailing list. You’ll likely continue to receive the emails, but they will land in your spam folder instead of your inbox.
Some email providers try to automatically unsubscribe you from a mailing list when you report spam.
Unsubscribe vs Spam: Which should you use?
Unsubscribing is best for legitimate communications you signed up for but no longer want. This is often things like promotional emails from brands you’ve bought items from, newsletters from online services you use, or feed digests from social networking services.
Mark as Spam is best for emails you never opted into, emails where the unsubscribe link doesn’t work, or senders who have ignored unsubscribe requests. It’s also useful against phishing and scam attempts, which are becoming more common.
It’s crucial to never click any links in a suspicious email – including the unsubscribe link. If it looks like a scam, report it as spam instead of unsubscribing. Any links you click confirm that your email address is active and represent a potential threat.
Why does it matter?
Incorrectly reporting legitimate emails as spam hurts their reputation, meaning it’s more likely that these emails end up in spam even for those who want to read them.
Overusing the report spam button trains the filter on legitimate email, reducing its effectiveness against actual spam.
Essentially, the report spam button relies on users correctly marking unwanted emails as spam but leaving legitimate communications.
Reporting as spam also affects other users on the platform, not just your own inbox.
The bottom line
The easiest rule of thumb is that if you recognise the sender and opted into communications, try unsubscribing.
If you don’t recognise them and didn’t subscribe to them, report it as spam.
For more information on dealing with promotional emails and spam, check out our article here.
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