Computer

Deutsche Version

06/21/2006
 Gmail: The Problem With Spam Mails

Although Gmail is convincing in many regards, it has not found a user-friendly way to handle spam mails yet.

Google's free email service Gmail, which is known as Google Mail in the UK and Germany, has some shortcomings in the way it handles spam mails. At first glance, Gmail seems to have found a good solution: A spam filter examines all incoming mails. If a mail is believed to be a spam mail, it is moved to the spam folder. Mails that have been moved to the spam folder are automatically deleted after 30 days.

As no spam filter is free from errors, it can happen that legitimate mails are marked as spam and thus are moved to the spam folder by mistake. This leads to the potential risk that legitimate mails are automatically deleted after 30 days. Gmail faces this issue in two ways: One measure is to never move mails to the spam folder whose sender is in the contact list. Another measure is to give users the opportunity to examine the content of the spam folder. If they find a mail that is not spam but a legitimate mail, they can mark this mail accordingly. It is then automatically moved back to the inbox folder.

So, what is the problem? One problem is that the spam filter cannot be deactivated and that mails in the spam folder are automatically deleted after 30 days. If one wants to prevent the deletion of legitimate mails, he has to examine the spam folder at least every 30 days.

However, the actual problem this article is about is a bit different. Gmail offers free POP3 and SMTP access. Therefore, users have the choice between using Gmail via the web interface (webmail) and using Gmail via their email program (e.g. Outlook or Thunderbird). If they have opted for their email program, they have the problem that mails in the spam folder will not be downloaded. They are forced to log in via the web interface at least every 30 days to check if legitimate mails have been moved to spam folder. A user who has decided for POP3 and SMTP access usually has also decided against webmail. Thus, the situation at present decreases the comfort of the POP3 access significantly.

The Gmail team could address themselves to this problem in two ways: They could give POP3 access to the spam folder or they could allow users to deactivate the spam filter so that mails are not moved to the spam folder in the first place.

On the other hand, it might be the case that Google wants to create certain incentives. One incentive could be that users should use the web interface at least every 30 days -- in order to present ads to the user. Another incentive could be to that users should add their contacts to Gmail's contact list.

Let's assume that Google is just not aware of the issue. Therefore, we would only need to drop a hint. Gmail users who are unhappy with the present situation can help in this regard. The more users send a corresponding feature request to Google, the more likely it is that Google will implement this feature one day.

Helping to convince Google is fairly easy:

  1. Mark and copy the following text:

    Deactivating spam filter/
    POP3 access to mails moved to the spam folder

    Dear Gmail Team,

    I enjoy Gmail, but I think the POP3 access lacks an important feature: One cannot download mails that have been moved to the spam folder.

    The problem is that mails in the spam folder are automatically deleted after 30 days. As there will never be a spam filter that works 100% correctly, one has to use the web interface at least every 30 days to check if Gmail has moved legitimate mails to spam folder by mistake. If ones does not log in every 30 days, one runs the risk of loosing legitimate mails. The situation at present decreases the comfort of the POP3 access significantly.

    Therefore, I suggest a feature that enables one to download mails that have been moved to the spam folder. Alternatively, I suggest an option that makes it possible to disable the spam filter so that mails are not moved to the spam folder in the first place.
  2. Open Gmail's page feature request in a new browser window/tab. (To achieve this, click on the link with the right mouse button and choose the corresponding command.)
  3. In the new browser window/tab, paste the copied text below "I have a better idea:".
  4. Important: Enter your email address below "Email address" so that the Gmail team can send you an answer to your request.
  5. Click on "Submit".

You can also help by drawing other people's attention to this issue (e.g. by setting a link to this page on your home page). Let us hope that Google is easy to persuade. By the way, if someone gets a personal reply to his or her feature request, it would be nice to drop a note (contact information).

External Links

  • More information about Gmail (Wikipedia)

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