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Few moments ago I closed Multi-message anti-SPAM filter in Gmail as duplicate of How to stop SPAM in my GMail account?

While nobody have commented about this as I might not able to reply later I will be sharing some stuff. Hope that someone find this helpful.

Let's start with the problem depicted in the question. The OP is using Gmail. They are receiving SPAM and due to certain circuntances they are receiving exactly three copies. That's it. The OP doesn't share what they have tried, don't what they have found here or in any other place.

The question is about using a web application, in this case Gmail. Great. Unfortunately it's not a practical, detailed question. It doesn't meet the quality standards.

Despite the declining of participation in the site in the lasts years, is still the 2nd most popular tag due to the number of questions. There are 4,154 questions. [gmail] is:question spam returns 274 questions.

By the other hand, email spam is a very common problem. Anyway, lets put the Web to a aside. Gmail web app has help button. This open dialog with a search box. Writing spam shows multiple help articles and "Ask the Help Community"

The question set as the duplicate target was posted 11 years ago it was viewed +30k times, has +2, has 7 answers, three of them are visible. The top answer has +6. It recomends to report the the spam messages as spam and to create a filter, which match the basic recommendations.

I will not make mentions about any OP attribute because the close of the question was based exclusively on the question content.

In case that the OP or someone else consider that the target question doesn't answer satisfactorily the question, it should be edited to explain why the answers of the duplicate target are not helpful. It's also recommended to look at other questions and to include the most relevant findings and why they don't meet the OP / contributors needs.

NOTES: Gmail end-users can't set up custom anti spam measures, but end-users might participate in anti spam fight efforts. From the Gmail web app the basic is by using the mark as spam feature. The next level is to submit feedback from the help menu. The third level is participating in the Gmail Community at https://support.google.com/mail/community.

People interested in questions related to spam might ask Meta Stack Exchange for tips about how to find them as well related chatroom . The tag site-crossover might give some ideas about initiatives about cross site collaboration.


The duplicate target doesn't look to meet the quality standards either. I will left that out of this discussion and will not answer anything about that in this question.

I suggest that answers to this question be focused on coodinate efforts, in case that someone considers that it be necessary, to improve the question closed as duplicate.

Reference

Related

Site Recommendation Questions

Below there are some questions from Meta SE tagged as `[site-recommendation]` related to handling spam.

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It is your, as a mod, decision to close the question without waiting for the community to decide whether it is worth or not. I find such decision wrong (this is a community site, not a mod's playground), but I see that there are more and more such decisions being made here and in other Stack Exchange site, which may simply mean a quickly coming sunset of the Stack Exchange idea.

Anyway, it is your idea, I disagree with it, but I respect it. I am thankful for it.

The OP doesn't share what they have tried, don't what they have found here or in any other place

When it comes to Gmail and SPAM filtering / prevention mechanism, all that you have is a one tiny button Mark as a Spam when a message lands in Inbox or Delete when it is correctly detected as a SPAM. That is. Nothing else, nothing more. I don't pretty much understand what kind of research in the Internet or your own work you would expect, if somebody is asking about a feature that has one single button.

SPAM prevention filters are Google's secret. Nobody actually knows how do they work or how do they learn themselves when user presses Not a SPAM. What kind of "common knowledge" (that I forgot to look for) you'd expect me to find in the Internet?

So... For every of SPAM message that match the description from my question, all the "own research" that I did was to press the Delete button. Not much more that I could do. I thought that this is obvious, so I skipped writing about this.

Unfortunately it's not a practical, detailed question. It doesn't meet the quality standards

Except for claiming this you have provided no argument that supports the thesis that my question actually doesn't meet the quality of standard. Or maybe I missed it out in your pro-longed answer. I have briefly (maybe too briefly) read your linked answer defining "quality standards" and found none of enlisted elements to match my question. Sorry.

On contrary, my questions is pretty straightforward. Things that I been doing so far (deleting each matching messages) brought no solution. And I would like to ask, if I can define some Gmail's filter to prevent such messages from appearing in my SPAM folder. I don't know what else could I write, ask or do to increase quality standards of my question.

Despite the declining of participation in the site in the lasts years, gmail is still the 2nd most popular tag due to the number of questions. There are 4,154 questions. [gmail] is:question spam returns 274 questions.

This has nothing to do with my question. In some others opinion this could be a proof that your decision about closing my question isn't, as you claim, based entirely on the content of my question, but rather a part of your large scale war against Gmail's and SPAM's related questions here. Fortunately I do not share such opinions.

In case that the OP or someone else consider that the target question doesn't answer satisfactorily the question, it should be edited to explain why the answers of the duplicate target are not helpful.

This is the only point on your answer (and in your decision about closing my question) that I myself found legitimate. I am going to take your advice and fix the question the way you suggest right away.

Let us others to decide, if that is truly the only mistake on my side. And, if yes, if it was worth closing the question right away instead of just downvoting it and leaving some comment (we handled things this way years ago...).

The question set as the duplicate target (...)

By your decision (of closing my question) and by above claim you send the message that my question is in fact a duplicate. In my opinion the thing that I am asking for:

to create _one_ Gmail filter being able to "catch" _three copies_ of a message sent to three different email addresses

is so narrow and border scenario that by this thing only it makes my question not similar and not being a duplicate of any answer here or ever asked anywhere else.

The question set as the duplicate target was posted 11 years ago

You have marked my question as a duplicate of a question that is itself 11 years old and that has all three answers 10-11 years old. Ten years is an era in IT and that should be obvious to you and anyone else. Your decision (and suggestion that this is a duplicate of that) is like telling to fight with bows against tanks.

If my closed question becomes deleted (another example of Stack Exchange's sunset, metioned by me in the opening, is a rush on all sites to delete as many closed questions as you can imagine), nobody else (except me and high rank users) will be even ever able to see it.

So your solely decision (which should rather be a community decision IMHO) brings solution to my (and others) problem one step back, as per my opinion.

To conclude: Again, I disagree with your decision, but I respect it. I would also like to thank you for your prolonged explanation here, because you could simply close this question without providing any feedback. Even though I disagree with most of your arguments I find your entire feedback (and the time you have spent writing it) valuable.

I am going to make fixes to the question that you have suggested that I agree with. Once again, thank you.

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  • "without waiting to the community" See As a mod when should I vote to close content that is not flagged?
    – Rubén Mod
    Apr 13 at 12:36
  • "So... For every of SPAM message that match the description from my question, all the "own research" that I did was to press the Delete button." This is not research. It might be mentione as part of was was done. P.S. This doesn't have an effect on the spam handling. I will not continue commenting line by line, but there are other arguments that also not make sense in a constructive, positive conversation. I understand that you be unhappy for the question closing.
    – Rubén Mod
    Apr 13 at 12:38
  • It's OK that come to Meta to post about your unhappines and disagreement, to critizise my decisions as mod, but this always should be done in a construtive and positive way, doing your best to avoid in failing in logical traps that lead to faulty arguments, not because I say so, because this is the spirit of the purpose and workings of Meta. This have being discussed in the past in Meta Stack Exchange.
    – Rubén Mod
    Apr 13 at 12:49
  • Agreeing with all your comments expressed in the edited question and your comments again, I just want to say that I am not unhappy with the fact that you have closed this particular question (the fact that my questions are being closed is happening to me often), but with the general fact what is going on with Stack Exchange, how mods are taking over (meaning: taking too much too harsh decisions) etc. This could influence my emotional judgement for which I am sorry. Because even though my words my suggest something else, I did my best to write my answer here as less emotional as it is.
    – trejder
    Apr 13 at 14:26
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    I'm also had posts that were affected by mod decisions, here before becoming a mod and in other sites. I disaggree with some of those decisions and have found that were mods handle them in harsh way. Some times these impressions were derived from the circuntamces other from the writing stile (brevity, jargon, etc.). First, the approach to Stack Exchage sites should not be done as place to handle urgent things, to demand "customer tailored service", to be spoon-feed. Asking for help, guidance,clarification is perfectly fine, asking to keep open a question despite its quality not.
    – Rubén Mod
    Apr 13 at 15:22
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    A bit later I will extend the above. Probably as a new post.
    – Rubén Mod
    Apr 13 at 15:24
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Unfortunately it's not a practical, detailed question.

It's a very practical question, and it's detailed enough: I could easily understand it.

It doesn't meet the quality standards.

It does meet the quality standards. The question has:

  • A clear title.
  • A reasonable explanation of what your question is. Add as much detail as you can.
  • Correct use of English spelling and grammar to the best of your ability.

"Any background research you've tried but wasn't enough to solve your problem." doesn't means that research is compulsory (notice the use of "any").

Lastly, the duplicate target doesn't address OP's question. The duplicate target is a much broader question, whereas the OP's question addresses a specific spam type not covered in the broader question.

(This answer concerns the 1st revision of the question)

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    Please clarify about what revision you are talking about. Also support your assertions and explain what make you think that the literal analysis of the quotes is appropriate in Web Applications SE and / or Stack Exchange sites.
    – Rubén Mod
    Apr 14 at 2:21
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    @Rubén good point, 1st revision. "the literal analysis of the quotes is appropriate in Web Applications and / or Stack Exchange site" What do you mean? Apr 14 at 2:24

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