Dealing With Spam - Part Two: Coping with Incoming Spam & Spam Filter Reviews

Using your email program's rules to filter spam

If you are receiving a minimal amount of spam, you can probably use your email program's rules or filters to sort and delete unwanted email. You can define how an email message is handled if it meets certain criteria (from address, specific words in the subject line, to address, etc). 

For example, you might set up a rule that any email with the word "million" in the subject line be send to a folder named "spam." You have to be very careful about how you set up your rules and you'll need to check that folder periodically to make sure you didn't filter an email from your best friend with the subject line "thanks a million." 

Spam Filter Program Reviews

There are many good spam filter solutions available at affordable prices. Most offer a free trial download so you can test which one works best for you.

Spam filters are either "rules based" or "permission based." A rules based system compares incoming email to a set of rules set by the program and/or the end user and sorts the email accordingly. With permissions based filters the user sets up a list of email addresses from which email will be accepted and any other email that comes in results in the sender having to identify themselves as a legitimate contact before the message will be delivered (i.e. an email message is automatically sent to the sender asking them to click a link or visit a site that sometimes has further instructions to ensure there's a human paying attention to the email address).

If you are running a business online you should be very careful not to filter out email from customers and potential customers or present a barrier to the delivery of their email. I recommend choosing a program that gives you complete control over which emails are deleted (i.e. you always have the option to review email before it is deleted). Additionally, I would not recommend a permission based filter because you may lose potential customers who choose not to comply with the permission requirements. 

While we certainly understand that dealing with the growing volume of unsolicited email is a difficult and costly problem for ISP's, most legitimate ezine publishers are concerned about the use of filters that are not easily controlled by our subscribers. For more on this issue read, "Spam Filters: Could They Be Detrimental to Your Business?"

Selecting an email filtering program

The first factor to consider when selecting your email filtering program is whether it is compatible with your email provider. Most programs will work with pop3 email accounts and may or may not work with free accounts such as hotmail and the free version of Yahoo mail.

Decide if you prefer a program that will work from within your email client (such as Outlook or Eudora), or if you'd prefer a stand alone or web based program. 

Evaluate the ease of use. Some programs require that you "train" them to your definitions of spam; be sure you're willing to take the time.

Weigh the risks of turning away customers or filtering out their email. A spam free inbox would be wonderful, but not at the expense of your customers.

Determine your budget. Programs range from free upwards to a monthly fee of $10 or so.

Take advantage of the free trials offered by many of the companies.

Spam Filter Programs

I don't use the bounce feature provided with MailWasher and I recommend that you do some research before trying it. Some argue that it overtaxes mail servers and that it may not be effective.

Other popular programs
I have seen recommendations for these programs, but do not have personal experience with them.

• Spam Inspector
• Spam Killer
• Spam Assassin
• SpamBuster
• Pop File
• SpamBayes
• Permission based - SpamArrest
• IHateSpam for Outlook and Outlook Express
• Web based - Spam-Protected Email at InternetBasedMoms.com Domains and Hosting
• Web based - Spamcop  (requires email address change)