Spam is unsolicited, bulk or irrelevant electronic content sent to many people at once, usually for advertising, scams or malware distribution. The term is most associated with email, but it also covers blog comments, forum posts, text messages and social media replies.
Why it matters
Spam wastes time and carries real risk, because many spam messages are phishing attempts or link to malware. For site owners, spam filters also shape deliverability: if your legitimate mail looks like spam, it lands in the junk folder or is rejected. Public forms and comment boxes attract automated spam, which can fill a database and damage a site's reputation.
Example
A contact form on a small business site starts receiving 200 submissions a day containing links to a pharmacy site. Adding a CAPTCHA, a hidden honeypot field and rate limiting cuts the volume, and real enquiries become easy to find again.
Common mistakes
- Treating all unwanted mail as spam. Mail you subscribed to and no longer want is a different problem, solved by unsubscribing.
- Replying or clicking "unsubscribe" on obvious scam mail, which can confirm your address is active.
- Relying only on a filter. Filters make mistakes in both directions, so check the junk folder occasionally.
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यह पेज सामान्य जानकारी है, जिसे हमारी संपादकीय टीम ने लिखा है और दस्तावेज़ीकरण बदलने पर अपडेट किया जाता है। सर्वर और प्रदाता अलग-अलग होते हैं, इसलिए बदलाव पहले सुरक्षित तरीके से जाँचें। देखें: संपादकीय नीति और अस्वीकरण.