And curiously, they're always emailing a spamtrap.
And as soon as I unsubscribe from TechTargetWatch, I start getting spam from WatchTechTargets, to whom I've also never subscribed, and who also deliver to the same spamtrap address.
But never mind that, I have a rather more paranoid perspective on not using the unsubscribe link. Clicking through to that unsubscribe page...
- indicates that the email address is valid
- indicates that the email address goes to a person
- affords the opportunity to set a tracking cookie or fingerprint the browser
- associates the tracking cookie/browser fingerprint with a person
No thanks.
As far as I'm concerned, if a company or group is emailing me, and it's not related to a specific purchase I've made with them, then it's spam, and I mark it as such. I don't care if you tricked me into opting-in through some fine print somewhere or I missed the opt-out button on a form one time or that you don't think it's spam or whatever.
Unless I've very explicitly taken an action to get your email, OR it's a receipt, order information, etc. then it's spam.
If it's inconvenient for the person sending the email, good.
So I've been trained to just hit the spam button, it's a lot easier and simpler way to ensure I won't see that crap again.
As I posted elsewhere on this thread, I'm inclined to think that if you don't have a clear unsubscribe button that works immediately with no extra effort, then you are spam.