I'm usually a nice guy, but I'm an absolute jerk when it comes to my inbox:
- If a service's registration has the "send notification" button checked by default, and I don't see it when I register.. well each time I get an email from the service, I flag it as spam. Damn, these things really should be opt-in, not opt-out.
- If the unsubscribing takes more than exactly one step. I flag.
It's a bit harsh, but I don't like feeling trapped. The OP's right: unsubscribing should be as simple as clicking on a button.
I find the multi-step unsubscribe frustrating too. But how do you address the issue of email forwards, where recipients who don't delete the footer (ie, everyone) are unwittingly forwarding everyone the ability to unsubscribe them from the list?
Realistically, how often does this happen though? Even my worst enemies wouldn't unsubscribe me from a mailing list just to piss me off. Plus, anyone I forward an email to is probably an acquaintance who wouldn't do that.
The benefits of 1-click unsubscribe and not receiving additional unwanted emails outweigh this small chance of being unsubscribe from a list I want to be on.
Right. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages for you... until they don't.
Nearly a decade ago I worked on MMORPGs for EA. An astounding amount of game design, engineering, and customer support effort went into addressing a tiny portion of the userbase we called "griefers". Griefers may be 0.1% of the population but one griefer can create an enormous number of unhappy players. You come up with a feature and think "there's only a tiny chance that someone could use this to harass or annoy another player"... and guess what, the actual chance is near 100%. Maybe this is what bored kids do today instead of TPing houses.
The problem with simple one-click unsubscribe links is that there isn't a way to stop the griefing. One kid gets the link and never tires of clicking it. The owner has no idea who is doing it and can't stop it and gets incredibly frustrated and angry. One incredibly angry user is far more hazardous to your business than 10,000 slightly inconvenienced users.
Is this a realistic problem? I don't really know, it probably depends on your app. The stakes are a lot lower here than in an MMORPG somebody is paying $20/mo for. But when I look at the incentives, I genuinely wonder if one-click unsubscribe (or any other kind of auto-login from an email) is a good business decision. It would certainly make sense to build in some protection, like expiring after 24 hours or whatnot.
I'm very curious to know what other people on the sending side of this business think. Obviously as an email recipient you want the system to securely and anonymously read your mind and act according to your specific intention automatically all the time.
After one-click unsubscribe web site may email the user last notification that unsubscribe was successful, and if the user wants to subscribe again - he can do so by clicking on that re-subscribe link (which can also be one-click).
Update: I just noticed that this goes against Amanda Peyton's last request (Do not send an unsubscribe confirmation email.).
But I guess she's wrong on that (because unsubscribe could be unintentional or malicious based on forwarded email).
OP here. I think the combo of one-click unsubscribe and not sending a confirmation is perhaps a bit aggressive, and maybe it should be one or the other. Though to be honest, I am thrilled if sites have any one of the 4 (and some do).
For services that don't allow you to have your emails delivered as a "digest" I created http://emaildigest.me/ that allows you to create a digest by setting up gmail filters.
Also, don't make your unsubscribe link egg-shell white, 6-point font at the bottom among other legalese. If I'm unsubscribing, my aggravation finding that is only going to make me angrier.
After years of being annoyed by these kinds of unfriendly unsubscribe policies, I now use disposable e-mail addresses to sign up for most web-based services. These have two advantages: (1) If they refuse to unsubscribe you, you can disable the address and never hear from them again; (2) If your e-mail address gets leaked to spammers, you know who did it, since you provide a unique address to every service. (I still use my real e-mail address with critical services such as on-line banking.)
I've been very happy with the disposable e-mail provided by http://spamgourmet.com; it's free, reliable, and you can create a new disposable address without visiting their web site. (It's not a pretty-looking web site, but it does the job.)
1. Your service's email notifications are divided into dozens of little categories, including one particular "core/important/essential" one that I don't actually want to uncheck (for example, payment-received notifications on Paypal.)
2. I uncheck all the other categories, but am forced to leave the core notification setting checked (otherwise I'd basically be rendering the service useless.)
3. You add a new category of useless notification... and default it to checked. And you have a justification for this: I never asked to unsubscribe from all notifications; I only asked to subscribe from some notifications.
Of course, this would be useless to put on the list, because the types of companies who do this know exactly what they're doing.
I never understood why people use the same exact email address to sign up for multiple sites. Any decent MTA will give you a wildcard extension on your username, so signing up for service Foo means telling them something like user-foo@example.com. An unsubscribe is as simple as forwarding that specific address to bounce, /dev/null, or their whois contact information (although I generally reserve that last one for articles that pop up a subscribe box when viewing). This also gives you the advantage of seeing who has sold your email address.
Seeing which email addresses leak is just an interesting reflection on the company. For example, the supposedly non-visible address I gave to facebook gets spam.
Can we also add to the list, "The removal of your email address may take up to 7 days".
Unless you store your marketing lists on paper in your bank's vault, there is no reason it should take this long to remove me.
I don't care if you're using an external agency who has an old copy of the list. Fix your process. You don't need 7 days to delete my email address from your database.
I usually use "my_gmail_username"+service_name@gmail.com to subscribe. If they start spamming me then I redirect all the email coming to "my_gmail_username"+service_name@gmail.com to my trash.
Email sent to "my_gmail_username"+service_name@gmail.com is delivered to "my_gmail_username"@gmail.com, Anything after + is ignored by gmail for email delivery.
These complaints are the result of a self-centered attitude on the part of those creating the website/service. Instead of considering all users' wants and needs, they're only thinking of their own interests.
It's analogous to a friend that only calls when he needs something, and only talks about himself when he does. Basically, it's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" stuff, applied to technology services.
I like the emails because they keep me engaged when the service is just fledgling. I also like them because they're a permanent record for when friends delete their posts or what not. Also, in two clicks they can be auto-relegated a labeled folder that I never have to see and can be easily purged.
- If a service's registration has the "send notification" button checked by default, and I don't see it when I register.. well each time I get an email from the service, I flag it as spam. Damn, these things really should be opt-in, not opt-out.
- If the unsubscribing takes more than exactly one step. I flag.
It's a bit harsh, but I don't like feeling trapped. The OP's right: unsubscribing should be as simple as clicking on a button.