A common practice that is anything but a best practice.
At best, it’s because they’re lazy.
At worst, it’s because they want to make it more difficult to unsubscribe.
I suppose there’s an even worse case: it’s spam, and you never subscribed to begin with.
These days, there’s no excuse for any of those situations.
Unsubscribe re-entry
If a site makes you type your email to unsubscribe, it’s either using outdated tools or trying to make leaving harder. That’s lazy, sneaky, or both. Good services let you unsubscribe with one click. And if you never signed up in the first place? Don’t click—it’s probably spam.
Lazy
The most common reason is outdated or ineffectual mailing list software that doesn’t encode your email address into the unsubscribe link.
It’s not that hard. For example, while an unsubscribe link might be coded as a link to:
https://somerandomservice.com/unsub.php
There’s absolutely no reason it couldn’t be:
https://somerandomservice.com/unsub.php?email=leo@askleo.com
The latter link includes the email address as part of the request.
One click and you’d be done.
Almost all legitimate mailing list providers include this functionality. The unsubscribe links in my Confident Computing Newsletter are encoded in a way that may not look like an email address, but the information to identify which email address should be immediately unsubscribed is there.
If the organization sending you email doesn’t have or use that capability, the only recourse is to ask you to re-enter your email address.
Instead, they should update to more capable software.
Help make it permanent by becoming a Patron.
Erecting barriers
This is borderline conspiracy thinking, but I’m convinced it happens at least occasionally: by forcing you to re-enter your email address, they’re hoping it’s too much work or that you type it incorrectly. They’re making it harder to unsubscribe on purpose.
The result is that you stay on their list.
This typically backfires, of course, as the next approach to get off the list is to mark those messages as spam. The sender can still claim a higher subscription number, but does it really matter if the only way to get off the list is to mark it as spam?
Speaking of spam
If you never subscribed in the first place, don’t click on an unsubscribe link.
If you didn’t ask for them, those messages are spam.
One way spammers harvest email addresses of real, live people is to include an unsubscribe link that asks for an email address. Any email address you give them is immediately “subscribed” to more spam.
Do this
Unsubscribing from an email list you requested to be on should be accomplished in a single click. Two at most.
Anything more complex is, honestly, disrespectful.
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The second time I get something unwanted and I can unsubscribe without putting in my email, I just hit the spam key.
I know they are trying to prevent unsubscribe when the link is in tiny low contrast font using a word other than “unsubscribe.”
Agreed. Another pet peeve.
A common trick is a link that says something like “manage my subscriptions”.
If I have to do more than click a link to confirm that I didn’t click the unsubscribe link by accident, I unsubscribe and also mark it as spam. There’s simply no excuse. When I ws coding, I would go to extreme lengths to eliminate ever keystroke that could be eliminated. It’s a small protest, but I can’t reward people who make me unnecessarily jump through hoops.
And if I unsubscribe with one or two clicks, if I get any further email from that company other than an unsubscribe confirmation, it goes straight to spam. It’s probably a fruitless gesture, but it can feel good 🙂
Thank you for all the help you have given me through the years. In this article, however, I am confused by the sentence: “The rule of thumb is to never click on an unsubscribe link for a list you never requested to be on, or are on due to some other legitimate reason, like having made a purchase with an online vendor.” Did you mean that we shouldn’t unsubscribe to a legitimate list from which we want to be removed or that we shouldn’t identify these lists as spam?
That sentence is confusing. I’ll update it. In short:
Hope that helps.
I’d rather have a legitimate website ask me for my e-mail address. There can be problems when you forward a COMPLETE unadulterated e-mail to friends and one of them clicks on the unsubscribe link. Some companies do NOT reply to the subscriber with a “Sorry to see you leave us” e-mail message (or something similar). They should.
A few years ago a friend in a small organization I belong to would often forward e-mails to everyone in our organization from a list he belonged to. Someone asked him to stop doing it but he kept doing it. I eventually clicked on the unsubscribe link in one of his forwarded e-mails. Apparently no confirmation e-mail was sent because a week later he verbally mentioned to all of us the list he use to belong to must have vanished (Oh what a shame!).
I’ve learned whenever I FORWARD an e-mail to a small group of friends and the e-mail has an unsubscribe link, I will remove unsubscribe links before I hit the send button.
I hadn’t considered that scenario as a reason to ask for the email address. It kinda makes sense. It’s still annoying, but now a little less so. Thanks for that.
And yes, always remove the unsubscribe links at the bottom when you forward something that you’re subscribed to.
Thanks Leo
So. What happens if i don’t click on the unsubscribe button but simple mark it as Spam (or Phishing)? Does this automatically stop future emails? Does it flag the sender to my email provider in any way?
Basically, do I actually achieve anything by marking it as Spam?
Marking it as spam tells your email provider that you consider this spam. What happened next depends on your email provider, but generally the effect is not instant. If you (and enough others) mark this email as spam whenever you get it, then eventually it’ll start being delivered to your spam folder instead of your inbox. Generally. As I said, it varies tremendously based on the email service you use.
Leo (et al.), I would much prefer that unsubscribing from a list should require two clicks, not just one.
It is truly amazing how often — especially when a touchscreen is involved — I will click on some random link by mistake. Woe is me if that random link just happens to unsubscribe me from a list I really wanted to remain a part of!
Sometimes, merely holding my tablet awkwardly will perform this dirty deed!
At times like that, a “Sorry to see you go! Are you sure?” page can be a Godsend: it gives one the opportunity to bellow, “H*ll, no! Not only am I NOT sure I want to unsubscribe, but I’m perfectly certain that I DON’T!!!”. 🙂
I occasionally see unsubscribe links that unsubscribe you with an Are you sure? kind of message. I find those OK as I might accidentally click an unsubscribe link.A ny hoops more than that and I mark the email as spam. I especially hate those sites which ask me to log on to my account to unsubscribe.
please unsubscribe me. Way to much information, very confusing, not everyone is a nerd
If you’re asking about Confident Computing, my newsletter, there’s a link at the bottom of every newsletter you can use to unsubscribe. Thanks!
Then there are the sites which respond, “you will be unsubscribed sometime in the next six weeks.”
I immediately mark those as spam, because they are.
Crap. I read this too late. Now I’ll be getting much more spam.
I had trouble unsubscribing to consumers reports. Wrote them an email a D they explained my problem but also said I could type unsubscribe in the subject box and the program would do it. Does that always work?
Always? Absolutely not. That’s HIGHLY dependent on the service being used. I’ll go so far as to say it’s rare these days.
Whenever I have to do more than tick a box confirming my unsubscribe, I mark those emails as spam. Then I know I won’t get their stuff anymore. If it affects their spam credibility, that’s their problem.
Great article, Leo! You give some great information here that I was unable to find from other “experts” giving advice on the same subject. Specifically, you write:
“One way spammers harvest email addresses of real, live people is to include an unsubscribe link that asks for an email address. Any email address given is immediately subscribed to more spam.”
I was always very weary about entering my email address to unsubscribe for this very reason: Spammers were using my entry of my email address to unsubscribe as an opportunity to harvest my email address to subscribe me for more spam.
I know use the Gmail feature to move the email to spam, at which time Gmail notifies me that it will not only move the email to spam, but Gmail will also attempt to unsubscribe me from the subscription. I don’t know how successful Gmail is at unsubscribing me from these emails, but I trust that Gmail will make sure that my email isn’t harvested when they do attempt to unsubscribe me.
Actually not always true
Many email providers now strip out the ability to include email address particulars in the unsubscribe link.
This means the reader clicks the link and the automated unsubscribe tools does not fire.
Smart unsubscribe pages allow the recipient to manually enter their email so they can unsubscribe, else they get an error message.
PS: I found your page will googling how to improve our companies unsubscribe page.
Read the article again. Leo never said it’s always true. Many websites require a confirmation click to unsubscribe so that accidentally clicking an unsubscribe link doesn’t unsubscribe you.
Hi Leo – thanks for the good information.
Just for reference:
There is a federal law regarding the ability of subscribers to a website to unsubscribe. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has implemented a “click-to-cancel” rule that requires sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their subscriptions as it was to sign up. This rule applies to negative option programs, which are typical subscription services that automatically renew unless canceled. The rule aims to protect consumers from difficult-to-cancel subscriptions and requires businesses to obtain consent before charging for memberships and auto-renewals.
https://www.epgdlaw.com/ftcs-new-click-to-cancel-rule/
Update: I heard to day that this law was struck down by an appellate court. Chances of it ever happening in the current administration are slim-to-none.
I mean, it’s a good thing, but it’s not The Solution by any means.
I believe that rule has been blocked by a US federal judge for not following the public commenting requirements (or something similar), based on a legal action by companies that don’t want it implemented. It has been rescinded by FTC for now and hopefully will be re-issued at a future date.
The aw pre-dated the current administration. I’m skeptical it’ll be re-introduced in the current one.
First of all, even if the email is from a site to which I’ve subscribed, I log in on that site, visit my account information, and unsubscribe that way. I never use the “unsubscribe” link in an email. The other thing I do may be somewhat problematic with some companies, but if I don’t recognize them at all, I simply report the email to my mail service as spam and then delete it. Regardless of either situation, I have almost gotten to the point that I never click a link in an email unless I am absolutely certain that it’s legit — and that entails a fair amount of vetting beforehand.
What you do will work, but with legitimate websites it’s much easier to click on the link and click once more to unsubscribe. It takes about 20 seconds. Your method takes a minute or two.
And if you don’t recognize them at all, they are by definition spam. Avoid unsubscribe links and mark them as spam.
I don’t unsubscribe anymore because I don’t trust anyone and it would be too easy for a spammer to make a bad link look like an unsubscribe link.
That’s why we say, “Don’t unsubscribe from spam.” If it’s something you had originally subscribed to, then unsubscribe, otherwise, mark it as spam.
If an email was forwarded to you (legitimately), clicking an unsubscribe link (coded or not coded) can have unintended consequences when the “company” does not ask for your email address. Last year an “informational” email was forwarded by a Board member of an organization I belong to to all our Board members (me too). I was a bad boy and clicked on the Unsubscribe link. No email addressed needed to be entered. What happened was, the original recipient of the email (the other Board member) was now unsubscribed. Since I also receive the same “informational” email directly to my email, a few weeks later I asked this Board member if she received any recent “informational” emails from XYZ. She said no. Apparently when I clicked on the unsubscribed link in her forwarded email, a notice was not sent to her saying “We’re sorry you unsubscribed”.
Long story short… When I forward a legitimate email that has an unsubscribe link, I always remove any mention of “Unsubscribe”, “Update your profile”, etc BEFORE I click on Send.
That’s a good point. If you forward an email with an unsubscribe link. If the recipient click it, you will be unsubscribed.