Graymail (also known as Gray Spam) is a type of electronic message that straddles the line between spam and legitimate email. Graymail is typically unwanted by recipients, but not usually perceived as offensive. It is usually associated with newsletters, promotions, and other forms of communication that recipients may have opted into in the past.
The main distinguishing factor between graymail and spam is that graymail typically has an opportunity for the recipient to opt out of future emails. Spam, on the other hand, does not usually contain any opt-out option and often has malicious content.
Graymail has become increasingly common due to the popularity of social media and how companies use it to send out promotional material. These emails usually contain helpful information about the company’s products or services and can very easily become a nuisance to the inbox.
Due to its status as a nuisance, but not necessarily considered as malicious, many email and web filtering services have trouble telling graymail apart from legitimate emails. This can lead to important emails being filtered and blocked. As a result, many services have begun focusing on personalizing spam and graymail filtering rather than relying on automated systems.
Additionally, many companies have adopted policies to minimize graymail. This often involves using data from previous interactions with customers or subscribers to ensure that the emails they send out are only those that the customers have expressed an interest in.
Graymail can be a nuisance to recipients, but it is important to remember that it is not the same as spam. By understanding the difference and creating policies to minimize graymail, companies can ensure that important emails are not blocked and improve customer satisfaction.
