Stop spam from flooding your Web-based email account.

Junk email, also known as spam, is more than just an annoyance. It's taking up all the storage space in your Web-based email account. Instead of bouncing your email or forcing you to upgrade to a pay service, Yahoo! continues to upgrade its free filtering software to keep spam out of your inbox. Today, Miles Libbey, anti-spam product manager for Yahoo! Mail, tells you how SpamGuard works.

SpamGuard detects spam and routes it to a special Bulk folder. You can choose to delete the entire folder or read through it to find messages that catch your eye. The system is living. It starts by rerouting messages from notorious spammers. It then filters email according to user specifications.

When you actively use SpamGuard, you can block up to 100 email addresses, set up to 15 filters, and block all HTML images until you choose to view them. All of these features help you save bandwidth and reduce junk mail annoyances.

Clean your inbox

You can report any email in your inbox as spam and block the address. Here's how.
  1. Open a message you want to report or block.
  2. You'll see two links next to the From address: "This is Spam" and "Add to Address Book." Click "This is Spam."
  3. You'll get a page with two options.
    • Block Address: This permanently blocks this email address from your inbox.
    • Report Message: This more effective way reports this email address to SpamGuard.

  4. Put a check mark next to one or both options and report the message.


If you accidentally block an email address, you can unblock it.
  1. Click Mail Options.
  2. Click Block Addresses.
  3. Under Remove Block, choose the address you want to unblock and click the Remove Block button.


When spam isn't spam

SpamGuard may sort your favorite email newsletters into the Bulk mail folder. If you're running into this problem, tell Yahoo! the message isn't spam. Yahoo! will return the newsletter to your inbox and deliver all future editions to the correct place. You can also sort your newsletters into a different folder.
  1. Open the message you want to salvage.
  2. You'll see two links next to the From address: "This is Not Spam" and "Add to Address Book." Click "This is Not Spam."
  3. You'll get a page with two choices.
    • Report Message: This sends a message to SpamGuard letting it know this is not spam.
    • Create Filter: This forwards an email message into a new folder.

  4. Put a check mark next to one or both options to stop sending messages from the sender to the Bulk mail folder.
  5. Set up a filter.


If you're a newsletter publisher who requires users to verify their subscription, your messages may still be sent to the Bulk mail folder. Fill out this form to request that Yahoo! put your newsletter on its white list.

Does SpamGuard work?

Reporting spam can't get any easier than being able to click a link provided in every message. Does the system work? According to Yahoo!, since instituting this notification link, reports have increased by 40 percent, and independent testing found SpamGuard operating at a 90 percent effectiveness rate.

What do you think?
Some people find SpamGuard highly effective, but judging from our viewer mail not everyone is happy with filtering software. You can voice your opinion in Talkback at the bottom of this article.

Help stop the spread of spam
Miles Libbey also has a few tips that'll help keep your personal information secure and your inbox clean, and help stop the propagation of spam.
  • Protect your email address. Treat it like your phone number.
  • Use an email service that offers spam-fighting tools.
  • Never send your password, credit card numbers, or other personal information in an email. Legitimate services will never ask you to send this type of information by email.
  • Don't post your email address in public places such as newsgroups, message boards, or chat rooms where spammers mine for email addresses.
  • Never respond to unsolicited email. Your response can alert the sender that your email address is valid.
  • Never click a link listed in spam. This will also alert the sender that your email address is valid.
  • Don't forward spam chain letters.