I've noticed that while one-click unsubscribe features have been around for a while, many companies don't seem to adhere strictly to them. I'm curious about how you all manage this. By one-click, I mean that once a user clicks the unsubscribe link or header in an email (`List-Unsubscribe` or `List-Unsubscribe-Post`), they shouldn't have to do anything else. It shouldn't redirect them to a page where they have to fill out a form to confirm their unsubscription.
However, a concern arises because many email clients crawl the links in emails, which means I could unintentionally unsubscribe users who are still receiving newsletters. What strategies do you use to maintain compliance while avoiding this issue? I've also noticed many sites still rely on an "unsubscribe page," which seems like it could negatively impact their email deliverability. Also, do email clients actually follow the links in the headers? I've been toying with the idea of including a `List-Unsubscribe-Post` header that directly unsubscribes users when clicked (via a POST request) while linking to a page requiring a manual form submission (GET request) in the email body. Is that a solid approach?
4 Answers
I just let Stripe handle it. They have a good system in place for managing subscriptions and unsubscriptions.
I typically just unsubscribe users immediately and move on. Most email clients don’t actually follow links, and many services will focus on things like image tags, which you can disable entirely. If a company doesn't comply, I just send a C&D to them, their hosting provider, email service, registrar, etc. Usually stops their emails fast and sometimes even gets their accounts shut down.
We face the same problem with clients who don’t implement the List-Unsubscribe-Post and just stick with GET requests. To make matters more confusing, sometimes they even obfuscate the email addresses. We end up unsubscribing everyone, and if they want back in, they have to email [email protected] to resubscribe. After that, those GET requests seem to drop off.
Which mail clients are doing this? It seems risky if I’m understanding your post correctly. As just a regular end user, I want to avoid this. It sounds like auto-clicking links could lead to malware issues if the email contained harmful links.
Most services do this to scan for malware, especially among major email providers like Gmail and Outlook. It’s common, though not universal, so it's good to stay vigilant.