The popularity of RSS feeds has a direct effect on spam – more accurately, they are effective tools to stop spam. Many users who opt for RSS feeds are no longer plagues with a large volume of spam emails or unwanted messages taking up space on their hard drive or in their inbox.

Thanks to RSS technology, users can now sift through the huge volume of information available online and choose to receive only what they would like. Fortunately, the technology is readily available and very simple to use. Designers and website owners can tailor websites to the specific requirements of their target audience. Simply put, RSS feeds are an effective spam fighting tool.

An RSS feed is basically a small amount of information that can be used to choose additional content or more in-depth articles. An RSS feed is read by an RSS reader or editor. The feeds will include the article’s title, as well as a brief summary of the article’s content. This can reduce the amount of time required to review large numbers of articles to select the ones you want to read.

RSS feeds may even contain a small sample of the article. This can help you gain a clearer understanding of its style and content. RSS editors can sort the RSS feeds, and they can be adjusted according to your preferences. Users can choose articles based on their origin, content or title. Individuals can also decide whether they prefer to receive general RSS feeds or subscribe to various newsgroups for more specific content.

RSS feeds can also be generated by RSS editors. RSS marketing is an effective method of ensuring your information will actually reach the target audience, rather than being considered unwanted spam. If you provide the specific information your target audience desires, you’ll increase online traffic to your website.

You can decide on the specific content areas of your RSS feed. One way to attract repeat visitors is to frequently offer very applicable and current information. Individuals who admire innovation and are likely to utilize RSS technology can also receive information about your products or services.

Another advantage of an RSS feed is the fact that it can decrease the volume of mass email prospective customers receive. You can market to your customers directly. This is much more effective, given that many users filter all mass email; they may consider your message spam and delete it without ever having read a single word.

RSS feeds enable you to target a large number of individuals while providing information you know will not be viewed as spam. Visitors will return to your website if you continue to offer current, original content.

Given the huge increase in spam, it’s very important to manage your email messages so you can protect your files, confidential information and computer from ruthless hackers. Purchasing an effective anti-spam product is a great place to start.

There are so many choices when it comes to software programs that it can be difficult to decide. We have reviewed 2 recent anti-spam products that are based on the innovative concept of community-based filtering. Both of these software programs have proven to be very effective in the continuous fight against spam and are worth considering.

Cloudmark Desktop 5.3.3 For Microsoft Outlook

Cloudmark started the innovative concept of community-based spam filtering which now includes more than 1 million participants. Community members can mark messages as spam at which point Cloudmark will assigns a unique fingerprint to the content and send the fingerprint to a central database.

Once the database receives a sufficient number of reports for the exact same message, the message will be marked as spam and will be blocked for all other members. Potential spammers are thwarted by the trust rating system used by the company; if the community does not agree with your spam assessment, your trust rating will decrease and vice-versa.

This program will keep the majority of spam from flooding your inbox and different versions exist to support Thunderbird and Outlook Express. The company is currently working on a version for
Vista’s Windows Mail. You can add specific addresses or domains to a whitelist and automatically add anyone in your current list of contacts.

Pros: Given its strong community-based filtering system, Cloudmark Desktop is very effective at blocking spam. The program almost never blocks valid email messages. Will handle webmail-via-POP3, Exchange, IMAP and POP3 accounts.

Cons: Does not currently support Windows Mail or web-based accounts that don’t provide POP3 access. Very similar to iHateSpam 5.0, but twice the price.

iHateSpam 5.0

Sunbelt Software has created effective anti-spam software that relies on the same spam-fighting community as Cloudmark Desktop. Although it’s currently only available for Outlook, plans are to include versions compatible with Outlook Express, Vista’s Windows Mail and Thunderbird in the near future. From the new iHateSpam toolbar, you can check a box to automatically whitelist anyone on your contacts list. You can also manually add any domains or sends to the list.

iHateSpam can also effectively distinguish between bulk mail such as newsletters and unsolicited messages. In fact, recent tests indicate a very impressive false positive rate of approximately one tenth of one percent.

Pros: Community-based spam filtering manages to catch most spam messages without blocking virtually any valid mail. It will filter POP3, IMAP, Exchange or webmail-via-POP3 accounts and costs half of Cloudmark Desktop.

Cons: No support for Windows Mail, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, web-based email or other email clients.

These are just two of the more innovative anti-spam programs currently available. Conduct some research to find one that works best for you and make sure you install it as soon as possible. Community-based anti-spam products such as these will help you join the millions of users worldwide who are determined to fight spam.