Google announces new tool for Gmail to fight spam
10 Jul 2015
Google yesterday announced a new tool for Gmail and said that it used the same intelligence developed for Google Search and Google Now for filtering spam emails.
According to Google, Gmail's Postmaster Tools would help qualified high-volume senders analyse their email, including data on delivery errors, spam reports, and reputation.
The company believed the new tool would help "diagnose any hiccups, study best practices, and help Gmail route messages to the right place."
Announcing the new Postmaster Tools, Google product manager Sri Harsha Somanchi said in a blog post, "Gmail users get lots of important email from companies like banks and airlines - from monthly statements to ticket receipts - but sometimes these wanted messages are mistakenly classified as spam.
"When this happens, you might have to wade through your spam folder to find that one important email (yuck!). We can help senders to do better, so today we're launching the Gmail Postmaster Tools."
According to the search company, the new spam filter would now use an artificial neural network to identify and block the "sneaky spam." With the revamp, the filter would now be able to recognise what type of emails a user prefered.
"We also recognise that not all inboxes are alike. So while your neighbour may love weekly email newsletters, you may loathe them. With advances in machine learning, the spam filter can now reflect these individual preferences," said Somanchi.
The filter was also designed to "detect and block the especially sneaky spam -- the kind that could actually pass for wanted mail," according to the company.
The system also used machine learning to track users' usage patterns and figure out if they wanted certain kinds of mail, like newsletters or promos.
Most critically, Google said Gmail was now better at catching impersonation -- when emails appeared to be from a known contact, but were sent by someone who was not users' friend.
On the other side Google was would work with at high-volume senders, companies who met Google's reputation requirement. They would get access to services that showed how Gmail handled their emails.
For instance, a company that sent out legitimate mail in bulk like order or flight confirmations would see how often users marked it as spam. They could then tweak it so that customers treated it more seriously.
