With the number of spam filtering solutions increasing each week it's getting tougher for consumers to make informed choices in their purchases.
There are 3 basic types of spam blocker:
1. Integrated
2. Standalone
3. Online
We'll look at each type of spam filter and at the end you should be able to decide what spam filter is right for you.
Integrated spam filters
This type of spam filtering software is the most common. Once installed it sits "on top" of your existing email software and installs a new set of buttons into your email software. In future when you collect
email you'll see options for marking email as Spam, marking the email as Not Spam, Bounce the email back to sender, etc. The description and position of these buttons varies from one product to the next but their purpose remains the same.
Most integrated spam filters automatically place suspected junk email into a separate folder on your PC for you to review or
delete later on.
The newer integrated spam filters are also "intelligent". They can basically learn the difference between what is
spam and what is not and delete the junk email you don't want.
The most popular integrated spam filters are:
iHate Spam
Spambully
Spam Inspector
Integrated spam filters are most popular amongst people who want a one click solution to collecting their personal email and filtering junk email at the same
time.
Advantages:
One click solution.
Disadvantages:
Software specific. Some work with Outlook and Outlook Express only.
Standalone spam filters
These are less common than their integarted counterparts but that doesn't make them any less useful. A standalone spam filter is basically a separate piece of software installed on your PC that you use to check your email for spam.
Standalone filters have the big advantage of being able to preview your email on the mail server before it's downloaded to your PC. This one single feature has the
huge benefit of allowing you to just download the email that you want as opposed to downloading all of your email, including the spam, and then sorting through it.
Using a standalone spam filter is a little more work simply because it's a separate piece of software that you have to run
before you open up your email software. Most standalone filters do allow you to configure them so that your standard email
application is opened once you've chosen what spam to filter. This suits some people and not others.
The most popular standalone spam filter is:
Mailwasher Pro
Advantages:
Doesn't rely on specific email applications to work properly.
Disadvantages:
Two step process. Load standalone filter and then your email application.
Online spam filters
There are really two types of online spam filters. One is for business use and one is for home use. A typical example of
a business type product is iHate Spam server edition where the software deletes junk email directly from the mail server before the end user even sees it. Large companies employ this type of technology.
Home users will be using Spam Arrest or similar. Spam Arrest offers an inventive solution to spam whereby any email sent to
the users account has a challenge request sent back to it which the sender must authenticate. The automatic junk email software used by spammers can't currently deal with this type of response.
Any failure to authenticate the challenge email results in the junk email being left to die in cyberspace. A user is authenticated with Spam Arrest only once for security just to make sure the software
doesn't become a nuisance.
The most popular online spam filter is:
Spam Arrest
Advantages:
Users are guaranteed to only receive the email that they want or requested.
Disadvantages:
Any techncial problems with the Spam Arrest server and you have no defense against spam.
Now you've seen what spam filtering options are available to you just ask yourself which one suits you most. If you're still not sure drop by www.spam-site.com and check out our product reviews - we have something for everyone.
About the author:
This article was provided courtesy of Spam-Site.com which reviews and tests spam blockers for the business and end user.
Circulated by Article Emporium
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Let The Email Wars Begin
Things just got a lot hotter in the hyper-competitive world
of online email providers.
In response to Google's announcement that their soon-to-be-
launched "Gmail" service will offer users 1 gigabyte of
email storage, Yahoo! announced an upgrade of their free
email service to allow users 100MB of free email storage
along with other enhancements.
Microsoft's Hotmail will surely also announce a free
upgrade in email storage space.
On the surface it might just appear like a simple case of
one-upmanship, but it actually represents major forces
digging in online and preparing to do battle.
It appears Yahoo! simply wanted to take the issue of email
storage space off the table as a consideration for users as
to which email service to choose.
Google enjoyed considerable media and public attention over
the past few weeks with the media marveling at how Google
intended to give hundreds of megabytes more space to its
users than Yahoo! or Hotmail.
With this move, Yahoo! made storage a "non-issue," but the
real war has only just begun.
Email ranks as the number one most popular online activity
according to virtually any survey you care to read.
When people go online, they spend the single biggest chunk
of their time sending, receiving, and reading email.
Online email providers understand that eyeballs on a page
looking at advertising and responding to offers is what
makes them money.
By increasing loyalty among email users in order to
repeatedly draw them back to the same website (often
several times a day), email service providers like Yahoo!,
Hotmail and Google can keep people looking at revenue
generating ads.
Despite the best efforts of government regulators, private
organizations, software filters, ISP's and others, over
half of all email sent online rates as unsolicited
commercial email (SPAM).
Besides storage space, Google, Yahoo! and Hotmail will
start claiming that their spam filters rate better than the
rest.
These online powerhouses hope to attract users with the
promise of cutting down and even eliminating the avalanche
of get-rich-quick, pornography, and ink-jet cartridge
offers (among others) that bombard virtually anyone with an
email account more than 15 minutes old.
This will, however, lead to another problem that many of
them won't talk about, which involves filtering legitimate
email as spam.
Unfortunately, the sword cuts both ways on this issue.
So where does it all end? Never! Hotmail will enter the
fray with expanded storage capacity as well as the promise
of less spam and a more "friendly" interface to make your
email life even easier.
Yahoo! and Hotmail will most likely copy Google and start
serving context sensitive advertising based on the content
of each email message as it get viewed.
Privacy advocates will weigh in to claim that all of the
filtering and serving of ads based on an email message's
content violates our rights to privacy and heralds the
arrival of "Big Brother."
But all this jockeying for position and enticing users from
one email service to another actually represents a great
boon for the average Internet user.
It will force three of the Web's biggest players to wake up
and improve their services after 2 or 3 years of "business
as usual" and we can all expect a few valuable innovations
to result.
About the author:
Jim Edwards, a.k.a. TheNetReporter.com, is a syndicated newspaper
columnist, nationally recognized speaker, author, and web developer.
Owner of nine (9) successful e-businesses as well as a professional
consulting firm, Jim's writing comes straight off the front lines
of the Internet and e-commerce.
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even months... without spending a
dime on advertising! ==>www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
Circulated by Article Emporium
of online email providers.
In response to Google's announcement that their soon-to-be-
launched "Gmail" service will offer users 1 gigabyte of
email storage, Yahoo! announced an upgrade of their free
email service to allow users 100MB of free email storage
along with other enhancements.
Microsoft's Hotmail will surely also announce a free
upgrade in email storage space.
On the surface it might just appear like a simple case of
one-upmanship, but it actually represents major forces
digging in online and preparing to do battle.
It appears Yahoo! simply wanted to take the issue of email
storage space off the table as a consideration for users as
to which email service to choose.
Google enjoyed considerable media and public attention over
the past few weeks with the media marveling at how Google
intended to give hundreds of megabytes more space to its
users than Yahoo! or Hotmail.
With this move, Yahoo! made storage a "non-issue," but the
real war has only just begun.
Email ranks as the number one most popular online activity
according to virtually any survey you care to read.
When people go online, they spend the single biggest chunk
of their time sending, receiving, and reading email.
Online email providers understand that eyeballs on a page
looking at advertising and responding to offers is what
makes them money.
By increasing loyalty among email users in order to
repeatedly draw them back to the same website (often
several times a day), email service providers like Yahoo!,
Hotmail and Google can keep people looking at revenue
generating ads.
Despite the best efforts of government regulators, private
organizations, software filters, ISP's and others, over
half of all email sent online rates as unsolicited
commercial email (SPAM).
Besides storage space, Google, Yahoo! and Hotmail will
start claiming that their spam filters rate better than the
rest.
These online powerhouses hope to attract users with the
promise of cutting down and even eliminating the avalanche
of get-rich-quick, pornography, and ink-jet cartridge
offers (among others) that bombard virtually anyone with an
email account more than 15 minutes old.
This will, however, lead to another problem that many of
them won't talk about, which involves filtering legitimate
email as spam.
Unfortunately, the sword cuts both ways on this issue.
So where does it all end? Never! Hotmail will enter the
fray with expanded storage capacity as well as the promise
of less spam and a more "friendly" interface to make your
email life even easier.
Yahoo! and Hotmail will most likely copy Google and start
serving context sensitive advertising based on the content
of each email message as it get viewed.
Privacy advocates will weigh in to claim that all of the
filtering and serving of ads based on an email message's
content violates our rights to privacy and heralds the
arrival of "Big Brother."
But all this jockeying for position and enticing users from
one email service to another actually represents a great
boon for the average Internet user.
It will force three of the Web's biggest players to wake up
and improve their services after 2 or 3 years of "business
as usual" and we can all expect a few valuable innovations
to result.
About the author:
Jim Edwards, a.k.a. TheNetReporter.com, is a syndicated newspaper
columnist, nationally recognized speaker, author, and web developer.
Owner of nine (9) successful e-businesses as well as a professional
consulting firm, Jim's writing comes straight off the front lines
of the Internet and e-commerce.
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even months... without spending a
dime on advertising! ==>www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
Circulated by Article Emporium
Thursday, November 02, 2006
The Hidden Dangers of HTML Email
As a veteran Internet user, I can honestly say I remember a time when HTML email was not possible. Back then RTF wasn't available either and for that matter, email programs did not even wrap lines for you or allow file attachments.
Today however, I receive a steady and annoying stream of email in all shapes, colors and sizes. Almost all promotional advertisements and many newsletters come in Html format.
Now, Spam is annoying, Spam in droves even more so, but Spam with "twirlygigs" is intolerable -- and dangerous. HTML is for websites. I visit them all the time and enjoy their various amusements. Email however, is a tool. A communications method used for getting work done. I get plenty of regular email, hundreds of pieces a day usually, due to the support, consulting and writing services I provide. If all of those emails are in HTML format then I'm stuck looking at potentially hundreds of web pages and thousands of graphics.
HTML email takes extra time to download, and for me it takes extra time to read. You see I don't trust HTML email. I've coded many websites in my day and I know that scripts can be hidden in the pages. Now when you couple that fact with the daily news about viruses and worms being sent, well that's just downright scary, so I do not allow my email program to automatically open HTML formatted email. Now I rarely use Outlook and Express (sorry Microsoft but they feel just a bit too dangerous to me now days) however I'd rather be safe than sorry no matter which email program I use. So, I have my email software configured to show all HTML messages as attachments.
Having the email converted to an attachment allows me to immediately see if there are any other files included with the message. And let me tell you, this has saved my butt time after time! I've lost count of how many times I've gotten email with the HTML attached, and malicious code, worms and viruses attached right next to it. If my email program was configured to "conveniently" display HTML as a web page, then a lot of those attached files would have opened on their own and done who knows what to my system.
So, if you receive a lot of email yourself, be careful what you allow to come in. If you run a newsletter or Email update service of any kind, please be courteous and at least ASK before sending HTML formatted email. And when you do have permission to send HTML email, don't include heavy graphics, scripts or other file attachments.
Text may not be as glamorous, but it's a heck of a lot safer and much easier for your readers to glance through.
About the author:
(c) 2002 Kathy Burns.
Want a Fully Operational Web Site Business in Less than 15 Minutes? Check Out The TurnKey Niche Profit Sites! www.GuruGazette.com/TurnKey-Profits/
This article is provided courtesy of The Guru Gazette Niche Marketing Blog - www.GuruGazette.com- You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.
Circulated by Article Emporium
Today however, I receive a steady and annoying stream of email in all shapes, colors and sizes. Almost all promotional advertisements and many newsletters come in Html format.
Now, Spam is annoying, Spam in droves even more so, but Spam with "twirlygigs" is intolerable -- and dangerous. HTML is for websites. I visit them all the time and enjoy their various amusements. Email however, is a tool. A communications method used for getting work done. I get plenty of regular email, hundreds of pieces a day usually, due to the support, consulting and writing services I provide. If all of those emails are in HTML format then I'm stuck looking at potentially hundreds of web pages and thousands of graphics.
HTML email takes extra time to download, and for me it takes extra time to read. You see I don't trust HTML email. I've coded many websites in my day and I know that scripts can be hidden in the pages. Now when you couple that fact with the daily news about viruses and worms being sent, well that's just downright scary, so I do not allow my email program to automatically open HTML formatted email. Now I rarely use Outlook and Express (sorry Microsoft but they feel just a bit too dangerous to me now days) however I'd rather be safe than sorry no matter which email program I use. So, I have my email software configured to show all HTML messages as attachments.
Having the email converted to an attachment allows me to immediately see if there are any other files included with the message. And let me tell you, this has saved my butt time after time! I've lost count of how many times I've gotten email with the HTML attached, and malicious code, worms and viruses attached right next to it. If my email program was configured to "conveniently" display HTML as a web page, then a lot of those attached files would have opened on their own and done who knows what to my system.
So, if you receive a lot of email yourself, be careful what you allow to come in. If you run a newsletter or Email update service of any kind, please be courteous and at least ASK before sending HTML formatted email. And when you do have permission to send HTML email, don't include heavy graphics, scripts or other file attachments.
Text may not be as glamorous, but it's a heck of a lot safer and much easier for your readers to glance through.
About the author:
(c) 2002 Kathy Burns.
Want a Fully Operational Web Site Business in Less than 15 Minutes? Check Out The TurnKey Niche Profit Sites! www.GuruGazette.com/TurnKey-Profits/
This article is provided courtesy of The Guru Gazette Niche Marketing Blog - www.GuruGazette.com- You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.
Circulated by Article Emporium
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