Unroll.Me, the subscription-killing app, has released its annual “naughty list” of the brands that contribute the most to our cluttered email inboxes.
The app, which aims to help users cut off annoying email subscriptions, puts out a yearly list—called the Spammy Awards—highlighting the worst offenders when it comes to email spam. A pair of online deals sites topped the most recent list, which also features several message-happy social media and apparel companies.
According to Unroll.Me, daily deals site Groupon sent out an average of 388 emails per user last year—more than any other brand tracked by the app—while LivingSocial nearly averaged an email per day itself. Facebook (FB), with its (optional) reminders of friend requests and photo-tagging, placed third on the list with an average of 310 emails per user last year.
Meanwhile, Unroll.Me also ranked the brands most likely to have users unsubscribe from emails in 2015, with discovery engine StumbleUpon topping that list with an “unsubscribe rate” of 43%. Music and events site Live Nation was the runner-up in terms of losing subscriptions, with 38% of subscribers on Unroll.Me opting out, while Goodreads and Foursquare both saw unsubscribe rates of 35% among the app’s users.
Here’s the full list of the top 15 biggest email spammers:
- Groupon (averaged 388 emails per user)
- LivingSocial (363)
- Facebook (310)
- Meetup (199)
- J. Crew (175)
- Twitter (TWTR) (173)
- Victoria’s Secret (160)
- LinkedIn (LNKD) (157)
- Gilt (155)
- Kohl’s (KSS) (154)
- Banana Republic (145)
- Gap (GPS) (139)
- Old Navy (137)
- Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) (135)
- Target (TGT) (120)
Of course, some companies are well aware of how their incessant emailing can have a negative effect on users and customers. Last summer, LinkedIn promised it would cut down on the number of emails it sends to its users, and Unroll.Me’s numbers do show a drop-off of about 36 emails per user for the careers site in 2015 as opposed to the previous year.
