Google will end its Gmail spam filtering pilot program in the US amid continued threats from Republicans.
to me Washington Post (Opens in a new tab)In a recent court filing, Google lawyers saw details of a plan to terminate the beta program at the end of January 2023, rather than continue its testing and development.
Google’s filing also asked the US District Court for the Eastern District of California to dismiss the case, meaning that “Gmail’s spam filtering policies apply equally to emails from all senders, whether or not they are politically affiliated.”
Filter political campaigns on Gmail
It’s been several months since Republicans first launched complaints that Google was sending its emails directly to users’ spam folders, with one paper noting that up to 67.6% of emails were classified as spam compared to by just 8.2% of Democrats.
Google has denied these accusations, but the company designed a new beta program in response that allowed parties to sign up as legitimate, recognized senders. This was met with a mixed set of reactions, including concerns that Gmail users’ inboxes would be inundated with spam.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said he hoped the scheme would provide “more certainty for senders during this election period”.
Of the more than 100 committees that signed up for the pilot program, Google made clear to a California court that the RNC did not.
The order says: “Several other politically related entities have chosen to participate in this program, which has been approved by the Federal Election Commission. logical and contrary to the facts alleged in her complaint.”
Although the days of the beta program are limited, Gmail maintains that effective spam filtering remains a key part of what makes its email service so popular and successful. TechRadar Pro He asked Google to confirm whether it would continue to explore similar programs in the future.