A couple weeks ago Gmail announced on their blog that they would be supporting the list-unsubscribe header element that allows people to actually unsubscribe from a mailing list automatically.

This is a good solid step by a major email provider to help permission email marketers. Hotmail was the first one out of the gates to support this functionality that allows end-users to click an unsubscribe button/link right in the email interface that communicates back to the sender.

I’ve long been a supporter of this feature since I think it helps boost communication between ESPs and ISPs/email-providers without forcing people to click the ‘spam’ button, which could damage a sender’s reputation.

We always tell all of our customers that we do not tolerate spam in any way and that means that their mailings must not produce spam complaints. But, we have seen time and time again where someone who has double opted-in to receive email from one of our customers later decides to start marking the message as spam when they don’t want to get it anymore. In the studies we’ve conducted, the reasoning for this is that it’s a whole lot easier to click that big spam button at the top of the interface, than to unsubscribe. (Personally, I’m not sure why scrolling to the bottom of email and clicking the unsubscribe link is that laboring, but, on the other hand, I do respect the laziness!)

Supporting the list-unsubscribe header helps to combat this because it build the unsubscribe option right into the interface. So, the ideal goal is that instead of marking the message as spam (assuming it comes from a legitimate source), you could just as easily unsubscribe.

The problem with Gmails current deployment is that they still haven’t made it that easy to find the unsubscribe link in their interface. I think they will ultimately give it a more prominent position once they hear some positive feedback from the industry and their users. Until then, we can still celebrate a baby step in the right direction!

All Elite Email customers are already taking advantage of the list-unsubscribe option, so there is nothing that must be done to ensure you get this benefit.