Unwanted email is no joke.
At the very least, unsolicited email wastes everyone’s time.
Much worse however, are the dangers that this unwanted
email brings.
I’m talking about the problems of spyware and adware, of
computer viruses, and of so-called phishing attacks that
enable identity theft and threaten your financial security.
There’s no doubt that reducing unwanted email helps just
about everyone, whether site owner or site visitor. This
article aims to help both.
==ASIDE==
Note: this article is based on 3 Tips to Help Webmasters
Reduce Sp*m in Their Inbox, Today, written a year or so ago.
Webmasters and site owners will find many more tips here
- http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/stop-spam.shtm
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==ASIDE==
Let’s begin.
Here’s how webmasters and web visitors can reduce unwanted
email:
TIP 1. USE A CHALLENGE RESPONSE SYSTEM
What is a challenge response email system?
Well, “it is an anti-sp*m system which is designed to shift
the filtering workload from the recipient to the sp*mmer (or
the legitimate sender).
“The fundamental idea is that sp*mmers will not take the
time to confirm that they want to send you email, but a
legitimate sender will.” Extracted from
- http://domain-dns.com/docs/challenge_response.htm
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Basically, a challenge response system aims to prevent
unwanted email getting through to your inbox.
COMMENT:
As a newsletter publisher, I find challenge response email
systems time-consuming to say the least. I have to confirm
my newsletter publication email address is valid so that my
free newsletter gets delivered to my subscribers. For a free
newsletter, that’s a lot of work.
However, I can see that challenge response systems probably
do ‘work’, to a degree.
LINKS:
- http://textmefree.com/control-spam-today.html#cha
llenge
or
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=challeng
e+
response+systems (all one word)
TIP 2. USE DISPOSABLE
EMAIL ADDRESSES
What are disposable email addresses?
Well, without stating the obvious, they’re email addresses
you can dispose of. They’re easy to set up, use once, and
forget. So if someone sends unwanted email to this email
address you’ll most likely never know about it.
COMMENT:
As a site owner and newsletter publisher, I am not a fan of
disposable email addresses being used to become a site-
member, etc. Responsible email marketing is one method that
webmasters or site owners use to keep their site free, after
all.
However, I can see why a site visitor might want to use them
also.
==ASIDE==
Disposable email addresses make perfect sense to use when
requesting one-off information, like my free articles
(ahem!). You receive one free article, like this one, sent
to your email address and nothing else. 
- http://www.wise-buys.info/webmaster-articles.shtm
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==ASIDE==
LINKS:
- http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=disposab
le+email
TIP 3. HIDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
This tip is aimed at anyone who leaves their email address
on a website or online forum.
Either replace all email links on your site with “contact
forms” or encrypt your email address. And be careful when
leaving your email on a forum.
There are several ways you can ‘hide’ your email address but
the basic idea is to try not to leave a ‘live’ email address
on a site or forum. (Technically speaking, I’m talking about
not using mailto: for your email addresses.) And you can do
this by:
o Encrypting your email address with ASCII-code;
o Encrypting your email address using JavaScript;
o Using an anti-sp*m feedback form, only;
o Putting your email address in an image.
As simple as that, really.
==ASIDE==
Hide your email address? From what? Well, programs called
sp*mbots search the internet for email addresses. They get
added to a database, and eventually used by sp*mmers. Find
out how to block sp*m bots from your site here
- http://www.kloth.net/internet/bottrap.php
==ASIDE==
COMMENT:
As a site owner, removing live mailto: links from your
website may take some time, but the amount of time
you’ll eventually save will make this activity worthwhile.
However, not all of the methods discussed above are 100%
sp*m-proof.
Here’s an example of a contact form that uses several of the
above techniques:
- http://www.best-digital-cameras.co.uk/contact-us.
html
As a site visitor, you’re relying on either not using your
real email address (see Tip 2, above), or on hoping that the
owner of the site you’re using has anti sp*m measures in
place to hide your email address. Do take care.
LINKS:
- http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=mailto a>+encrypter
- http://willmaster.com/master/feedback/
- http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/stop-spam.shtm
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- http://website101.com/SpamFilter/spamfilter.html<
/a>
TIP 4. FILTER YOUR EMAIL
If all else fails, you simply have to filter your email.
That means automatically deleting the junk via a set of
rules (or filters). How you do this depends on what email
software you use: Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora have
email filters (sp*m filters) that are easy to train.
Web-based email sites like AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo! etc. also
allow you to filter your email.
COMMENT:
I still rely on this method to filter out unwanted or bad
email, though it never filters out all of the junk. As a
site owner, one way I can be sure that the email is unwanted
is if it’s sent to an email address that I know does not
exist; e.g. AnythingGoes@mysitedo
main.com (I try and
avoid using these catchall email addresses nowadays).
LINKS
- http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm
So, there you have it: four tips you can use to reduce
unwanted email, today.
As I said in the beginning of this article, unwanted email
is at the very least an unpleasant waste of time. So it
really is important that you try at least one of the sp*m-
reduction tips shown.
Above all, site owners should remove their mailto: links
from their website, and site visitors should simply take
care when and where they use their email address online.
Everyone can learn more from the resources listed here
- http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/stop-spam.shtm
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