Hacker News Reader

Comment by AgentConundrum | Hacker News Reader

> It's similar to the copout line included in email marketing when companies know their contact lists are spurious, but they want to err on the side of self-interest by emailing you anyway: "if you received this email by accident, please unsubscribe by using the unsubscribe button."

That's not a cop out line. For some websites, yes, it very well could be, but there is a legitimate purpose to it as well. Anybody can go on a website and enter "maddox@xmission.com" in the email input box for a subscription to SpamMePlease.com, even people who aren't Maddox. Putting that line in the email is a way of saying "you might not have done this, so here's a quick link you can use to tell us to fuck off."

You can argue that they should use a "confirm this subscription" email instead, but the two options aren't that dissimilar when you think about it.

View on HN

Which is why double opt-in is the only way to run a list if you truly care about marketing with permission.

Respectfully, I think you are entirely wrong: the two options are VERY dissimilar. In one case, you send them a single "Click here to confirm" email -- and maybe a single follow-up a few days later.

In the other case, you're continually marketing to them and putting the burden on the recipient to opt-out, usually in tiny text at the bottom of the email.

and on top of that, the last thing you want to do for many actual spam lists is to click their per-address unique tracking tag which tells them that your address is valid.

If you've already started communicating with them I guess it's probably reasonable to consider it 'blown' anyway, but I'm always extremely dubious of opt-out/unsub links for that reason.

Sure they are. I have a common name for a gmail address (early adopter). I get emails for every Steve, Shirley, Shane, Stephanie, Sam, etc in the world who have my last name and a gmail account. I also get emails from every mailing list these people have signed up for that do not use confirmation emails. The email address has become unusable because of that alone.

>> I have a common name for a gmail address (early adopter). I get emails for every Steve, Shirley, Shane, Stephanie, Sam, etc in the world who have my last name

I do, too.

Have fun with it?

I get emails for every "J" name with my same last name. At times I respond and get into a whole lot of mischief.

Yes, it can be tempting, especially the chain mail senders who ignore my "you have the wrong email address" pleas.

I have a fairly unique first name and managed to get it @gmail.com and the amount of legitimate, misaddressed email I get is staggering. 5-10 per week.

The unsubscribe link is how spammers know that the autogenerated email address they are sending to is read by a human being. It makes the address more valuable when sold to another spammer. That one spammer may stop sending you messages from the same brand, to avoid landing in blacklists, but his other brands and his affiliates will be sending you more.

The US is a bit different from the rest of the world since US law (the Yes-You-Can-Spam act) requires that US-based spammers include and respect an unsubscribe link. Neither requirement is actively enforced, so the question of whether one can expect an unsubscribe link to work remains questionable.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com