Survey: Email users need more control of inboxes

Bombarded by spam, email users are eager for tools like a 'report fraud' button that would help weed out unwanted messages that litter inboxes, an industry group, quoted by an Reuters report said.

The Reuters quoting a survey by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition, said more than 80 % of email users already use tools such as 'report spam' and the 'unsubscribe' button to manage their in-boxes, the survey found.

The Reuters report said the survey, which was also conducted by marketing research firm Ispos, polled 2,252 Internet users who access email through service providers such as AOL, MSN/Hotmail, Yahoo! and Gmail.

Nearly 80% of users surveyed said they use the 'report spam' button when they don't know the sender, while 20% said they used it as a quick way to remove their address from a mailing list, the report said.

The report said email users typically decide whether to click on the 'report spam' or 'junk' button based on the address and the subject line without opening the actual message, the survey found.

Nearly all users said they would use an unsubscribe button if it was built directly into their email program, the report said.