Users of Yahoo's e-mail service can expect to see even
less spam cluttering their inboxes, the company said, now that it
has bolstered its proprietary SpamGuard filter.
The enhancements to SpamGuard come as part of an ongoing effort
from the web content and e-mail provider to eliminate the deluge of
unsolicited commercial e-mail flooding internet users, according to
Lisa Pollock, director of Yahoo's messaging products.
"Spam has become an ever-increasing issue for us and the
industry," Pollock said.
Yahoo originally developed its SpamGuard filter in December of
1999, according to Pollock, and it has since been adding to its
arsenal of spam-fighting tools. In August of last year, for
example, the company added a "this is spam" link to users'
inboxes
The latest improvements to its SpamGuard have resulted in a 40%
decrease in complaints coming through the "this is spam link" in a
limited test of users, according to Pollock.
"The user experience will be the same, but they will notice that
SpamGuard will work better and be more effective at getting
messages where they want them to be," Pollock said.
She declined to elaborate on exactly what changes were made to
SpamGuard, however, saying that it is proprietary information and
could help spammers.
Yahoo's move comes on the heels of a slew of announcements by
ISPs indicating that the industry is taking a tough stance on spam.
AOL, for example, announced last week that it had blocked 1bn spam
e-mails from user inboxes in one day.
Microsoft has also moved to make spam fighting a central feature
of its latest internet access software, MSN 8.
Pollock said that the fact that the industry as a whole is
focused on canning spam is a positive development.
"Together we will absolutely continue to improve the way users
interact with e-mail," she said.