Gmail + addressing
October 8, 2008
Tip of the day
Gmail supports plus-addressing of e-mails. Messages can be sent to addresses in the format username+extratext@gmail.com, where extratext can be any string, and will arrive in the inbox of username@gmail.com. This allows users to sign up for different services with different aliases and then easily filter all e-mails from those services. In addition, should users start to receive spam messages that are directed to their e-mail address with the extra text, they will know what services have leaked out their e-mail address to others.(ref) However, some websites do not accept email addresses containing plus signs, despite the ‘+’ symbol being part of the mail address specification. (wikipedia)
I have personally noticed an increase of about 50% spam in my gmail account. I have registered my email so many different places, so I have no idea who the sinner is. I still regret the day I posten ONE post on a usenet group – in good faith because it was googlegroups. But my email was exposed. Never again!
October 14, 2008 at 18:22
Many people across the Internet have run into the same problem as you. While GMail’s plus-addressing is a pretty decent solution, the fact that many services don’t accept plus-addressing kind of defeats the purpose.
I think you should check out this new service, OtherInbox. It’s still in private beta, so you’ll need this code to sign-up.
http://beta.otherinbox.com/signup/6b105
Basically, OtherInbox gives you your own domain name (you.otherinbox.com), which you then give out to different online services and sites (facebook@you.otherinbox.com, amazon@you.otherinbox.com, etc.).
From there, OtherInbox automatically categorizes these addresses and allows you to better manage your email and see who is spamming you.