Question for Yahoo Users

[magpens]

I have used Yahoo! as my email resource for many years. . I know there are "better" email clients now but I have never felt like switching.
But my "faithful adherence" to Yahoo! is being sorely tested. . There is more than one issue.

The issue that I just noticed very recently is this one.

Yahoo provides a "Spam" folder, along with a number of other pre-programmed folders.

I know nothing about programming or what kind of algorithms might be invoked to automatically direct incoming mail to "Spam" or any folder other than "Inbox".

But I have just noticed that some of my "subscribed to" websites (like tool company websites, which I take a lively interest in) are having their sales "flyers" and information notifications automatically directed to "Spam".

I find this highly annoying because I have a real interest in some of these flyers and would like to read them in a timely fashion.

But I can't do that if they are automatically directed to "Spam" .... which is a folder that I do not routinely check.

By the time I notice the sales "flyers" in the "Spam" folder, the sale is usually over and the information is useless.

Can any of you programming "gurus" offer insight on what might be happening, please ? . And suggest how I might be able to correct this problem?

Some of you might be using Yahoo! yourselves and may have noticed similar issues. . You may even have a solution for a corrective measure.

Thank you very much for any suggestions !! . BTW, I'd rather not change email clients at this late stage !!! . But if there is good reason to do so .... change to which ???

 

[Edgar]

I don't use Yahoo, but you should be able to mark a message as "not spam", then move it to your inbox. Future mail from the same sender should go to your inbox.

 

[KJA]

Mate, you should be abke to mark the one's you want in the spam folder as "not spam" and the algorithms will "learn". You might also be able to add the site(s) to a white list of accepted sites.

Cheers

 

[Don Rabchenuk]

I have used Yahoo for many years as well. Try and add the email address to your contacts. I believe this should stop your problem.

 

[monophoto]

All good suggestions. But the problem with software is that every application is different, and you have to find the trick that works with the application that you are struggling with.

I don't use Yahoo e-mail, so I can't give you specific advice on how it works. But most other e-mail applications have a 'settings' or 'preferences' feature that allows you to create 'filters' that detect when e-mail is coming from undesired senders, and either reject it outright or send it to the 'Spam' folder. There should be an icon somewhere at the top of the screen - it could be in the shape of a gear, or it could be a 'pancake' icon (a set of parallel lines) - that will get you to the settings menu.

 

[leehljp]

I am not sure of what Yahoo uses, but the basis of algorithms is in "logic". The problem with "Logic" is that what seems like logic to one is not logic to another.

I use a different email client and have for years. I used to have troubles and then one day I decided to find out why.

1. If I had a contact, I had the email client direct it to either inbox or a separate folder designated for it. (I set up a rule or filter for that)
THAT should be simple enough.
2. Then I had a second rule: If email is not in my contact folder send to Spam or Trash. (I have very few of my wanted ads in my contacts database)
3. My THIRD rule is the one that messed everything up: If not spam (trained or learned) send to xyzzy folder.

Those three rules above contradict each other in pure logic - causing mis- sending of email. So, Which one takes precedence?
If I train it that one flyer is NOT spam, then it contradicts that statement that says only contacts go into "inbox" or "special folders".

That is the tip of the "logic/algorithm" iceberg. And the order of rules or filters changes up things even more.

EXAMPLE:
I do not have Grizzly, Rockler, Jet, Rikon, Woodcraft etc in my contacts, but I do have a filter/rule that says IF from Grizzly.com (or others listed), send to "Woodworking" folder. However, that does contradict with "If not in my contacts" send to spam.

Suggestion: Find someone who is good with this and ask them to help you define the rules or filters so that they are not fighting one another. You may have to promise them a pen or two or three, but in situations like you are asking, it will take someone who can work with you one-on-one or teach you the "logic" methodology and what to look for and what to leave out.

I have found that the simplest is the best and most effective.

 

[stuckinohio]

Mal,

Try the procedure outlined in this article.

How to Stop Legitimate Emails From Getting Marked as Spam

Email services automatically classify messages as "spam" if they look spammy.

www.google.com

 

[JimB]

Changing email provider will not solve this as all of them have filters to eliminate spam. I have Yahoo mail and do what is recommended above. anything that goes to my spam/junk folder that shouldn't I mark as 'not spam' and it moves it to my Inbox and will continue to put them into my inbox. Sometimes I just move them to the inbox and that seems to fix it also.

I did notice that in August i had several emails from vendors go to my spam/trash folder. I think Yahoo might have updated their spam software and caused more things to go into the folder.

 

[monophoto]

Mal

One other point that should be made - e-mail filtering algorithms are generally good, but occasionally they screw up for reasons that are totally unexplainable - I refer to these screwups as 'undocumented features of the Microsoft operating system'. As a result, valid e-mails sometimes end up in the Spam folder, and spam sometimes gets through as valid e-mail.

Some e-mail systems allow you to build a filter that totally reject emails that meet criteria that you specify. That is the case with the RoadRunner system offered by Charter Communications (formerly Time Warner). The problem with that arrangement is that if the filter burps and blocks a legitimate e-mail, you won't see it. Fortunately, in most instances e-mail isn't used for absolutely essential messages, so if a valid e-mail is wrongly rejected, the world doesn't come to an end.

On the other hand, there are other e-mail systems that take a more conservative approach and don't allow filters that totally reject messages. Instead, e-mail captured by a spam filter is redirected to a designated spam folder where there is an option for the user to confirm that it is spam before deleting it. That is the way that the Google g-mail system works. In addition, there is a timer that automatically deletes spam messages after a set period of time so that they don't just accumulate indefinitely.

But the bottom line is that spam e-mail is not going to go away anytime soon (just like robocallers), and the problem of differentiating between legitimate and bogus is an ongoing struggle.