What to do about spam? A marketing director’s opinion and a reader’s poll.

Can you stand yet another Tech+ column about email spam?

The advice from the security industry is universal: Ignore, delete or send spam to a junk folder. And whatever you do, proceed with caution if you’re tempted to click that “Unsubscribe” link since it could open the gates for even more spam or something much more malicious. I stick to that advice, which was part of last week’s Tech+ question: “Spam and junk mail folders were created for a reason. No need to investigate.”

So, I was a little surprised to hear from Linda Browning, a Denver marketing director, who said I was making her job harder by publishing bad advice. She wants readers to hit that “Unsubscribe.” She didn’t like my response so I told her I’d let readers share their two cents. Should we allow “marketers” to send us unsolicited email? If you’d like to comment online, here’s the link: dpo.st/2w4beLe

Q: You advised:

1. Don’t bother checking your spam folder. I completely disagree. Both Microsoft and Google do a horrible job of deciding what is spam. For example, they routinely send to spam emails that are replies to a personal email I sent someone. No matter how many times I mark “Not spam,” neither system ever “learns.” (And my settings are correct.) Not checking the spam folder means missing emails you need to read.

2. Don’t bother unsubscribing from spam emails — either complain or delete. As a marketer, I rely on customers to tell me when they don’t want to receive marketing emails. And I honor their requests. Unsubscribing is exactly what someone should do to make the emails stop. (This is NOT the same as replying to junk faxes, which just verifies to the autodialer that the fax number works.)

Please don’t make my job harder by publishing bad advice! ~ Linda Browning, Marketing Director, Accountant’s Education Services and CPE4U Colorado Tech+ Really Linda? In general, the definition of spam is that it is an unsolicited email. If you’re sending messages to people who did not ask for them, that’s spam. It’s certainly not my job to help marketers make sure unwanted messages get to consumers.

Think about what you’re asking me to do — tell readers (several who have asked me whether they should have paid that online stranger $300 to access their PC) to open that spam message anyway AND click on a link! — now that’s irresponsible.

The industry — which includes Google and Microsoft — needs to fix the problem that not only annoys readers to no end, but threatens the security and privacy of their computers and personal data. Please find a better way to do your job. themselves marketers be allowed to email us even if we didn’t ask for it? To take the poll, visit this link: dpo.st/2w4beLe

For legitimate marketers who I’ve opted in to hear from, I’m all for clicking that unsubscribe link when I tire of the emails. But for everyone else I’ve never contacted in my life, I ignore the messages on my personal account or send the email to spam. In some cases, you may recognize the company but the sender is really an imposter, as several readers have mentioned in the past.

According to the Data & Marketing Association, previously called the Direct Marketing Association, marketers must clearly identify themselves and receive consent from the recipient or offer a way to opt out of future messages. Hence, the unsubscribe link.

But even Mike Uehlein, who handles communications for the DMA, says this won’t prevent the bad guys from doing their worst.

“If these best practices aren’t followed, then sometimes the only option for a skeptical person is to click the ‘Spam’ button. In some email platforms, like Google’s, this will send an unsubscribe request on the consumer’s behalf. But at the very least, it will keep the suspicious/unwanted messages out of the inbox,” Uehlein said.

I used to think that phishing email, spoofed messages and spam would end the day that people stopped responding to unsolicited messages from the really bad guys. But it looks like some marketers have justified a longer life for spam.

I hope that marketers figure out a better way to market.

The DMA also has two options:

DMAChoice.org — Register online with the DMA and pay $2 to sort through what you want or don’t want to receive. You can also print out this form and mail it in: Details dmachoice.thedma.org/static/ pdf/registration_form.pdf

DMA email preference: To reduce commercial email, fill out the form at dmachoice.thedma.org/register.php