The Pros & Cons of the New ‘Block’ Button from Gmail

Gmail rolled out new “block” functionality to all Gmail webmail users yesterday, giving consumers yet another option to rid their inboxes of email they don’t want. On the surface, that might not sound like a great thing for marketers, but it’s not as bad as it sounds.

This option is just one of many that Gmail users have for getting rid of emails they don’t want, which also include deleting, unsubscribing, reporting as spam, and reporting as phishing. “Block” sits right in between “Unsubscribe” and “Report Spam” on the severity spectrum.

For marketers, the upside is that the new “block” option should reduce spam complaints because some subscribers who would have previously clicked “report spam” will now click “block” instead. The downside is that the “block” button may have created a new lower bar for ISP intervention, so some subscribers who might have previously clicked “unsubscribe” will now click “block” instead.

There are 4 ways email marketers can minimize the downside of this new development…

>> Read the full post on the Litmus Blog