How To Choose A Spam Blocker/Filter Software

So How Do You Choose a Spam Blocker software? Should you go for an integrated solution, standalone or web-based? Will it work with your email client and is future upgrades an important feature? Or should you just buy the most popular ones and trust that is the right way to go? Tough questions we know. That’s why we have done the research for you so that you may choose a Spam Blocker which is best for your needs.

Generally, there are three types of spam blockers :-

Integrated
Standalone
Online

We'll look at each type and explain the pros and cons of each.

Integrated Spam Blocker
This type of spam filtering software is the most common. Once installed it sits "on top" of your existing email application and installs a new set of buttons into your email software. In future when you collect email you'll see options for marking email as Spam, marking the email as Not Spam, Bounce the email back to sender, etc. The description and position of these buttons varies from one product to the next but their functions remain the same.

Most integrated spam blockers automatically place suspected junk email into a separate folder on your PC for you to review or delete later on.

The newer integrated spam blockers are also "intelligent". They can basically learn the difference between what is spam and what is not and delete the junk email you don't want.

The most popular integrated spam blocker software are:

Qurb eTrust Anti-Spam

iHate Spam

Spam Bully

Integrated spam blockers are most popular among people who want a one click solution to collecting their personal email and filtering junk email all at the same time. The downside is they work only with specific email applications (eg, Outlook, Eudora, etc).

Advantages:
Simple, easy to use one-click solution.

Disadvantages:
Software specific. Some work with Outlook and Outlook Express only.

Standalone Spam Blocker
These are less common than their integrated counterpart but that doesn't make them any less useful. A standalone spam blocker is basically a separate piece of software installed on your PC that you use to check your email for spam.

You will have to launch your spam blocker software first. After you are done processing emails on the server, then launch your regular email software to download them.

Standalone filters have the big advantage of being able to preview your email on the mail server before it's downloaded to your PC. This one single feature has the huge benefit of allowing you to just download legitimate emails as opposed to downloading all of your email, including spam, and then sorting through it.

Using a standalone spam blocker is a little more work simply because it's a separate piece of software that you have to run before you open up your email software. Most standalone filters allow you to configure them so that your standard email application is opened automatically once you've chosen which spam to filter. This suits some people and not others.

The advantage is standalone solutions are not software specific, so they work with just about any email application.

The most popular standalone spam blocker is:

Mailwasher Pro

Advantages:
Wide compatibility range. Doesn't rely on specific email application to work properly.

Disadvantages:
Two step process. Load spam blocker software and then your email application.

Online Spam Blocker
There are really two types of online spam blockers. One is for business use and one is for home use. A typical example of a business type product is iHate Spam server edition where the software deletes junk email directly from the mail server before the end user even sees it. Large companies employ this type of technology.

Home users will be using SpamArrest or similar. SpamArrest uses an innovative Challenge/Response solution whereby any email from unknown senders will receive a challenge request to which the sender must respond. Any failure to respond results in the junk email being left in cyberspace. The automatic spam email software used by spammers can't currently deal with this type of response.

A user is authenticated with SpamArrest only once, and all outgoing emails are automatically added to the pre-approved sender list. Additionally, SpamArrest combines other innovative features such as protection for multiple email accounts, disposable email addresses which allow you to receive messages without concealing your actual email address and many others. Spam Arrest doesn't need any specific email application in order to work properly and even works with web based emails.

The most popular online spam filter is:

SpamArrest

Advantages:
Users are guaranteed to only receive legitimate email. Also features protection for multiple email accounts and many other features not seen with other solutions.

Disadvantages:
Some legitimate senders such as newsletter subscriptions will usually not respond to the Challenge/Response system and have to be manually added to the approved senders list.

Other Considerations
These three solutions are the main spam filtering options available to you. Other questions you might want to ask :-

Do you need protection for more than one email account?
Do you download email attachments often? If so, an integrated virus scanner is essential if you don’t have anti-virus installed.
Do you participate in forums or subscribe to newsletters often? If so, a solution which lets you use disposable emails (to receive messages) comes in really handy.
Make sure the solution you choose is compatible with your email client/application.

Now you've seen what spam filtering options are available to you, just ask yourself which one suits you most. If you're still not sure, check out our product reviews - there's something for everyone.