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The problem with the + notation is twofold: First, not all places accept the + character; second, you've now revealed your actual e-mail address (since foobar@gmail.com is just as valid as foobar+dontspamme@gmail.com).

I use a subdomain with catch-all, like me.example.com. Everybody is fine with subdomains and then I can use companyname@me.example.com. Using that format doesn't expose my actual e-mail address and makes it easy to filter (if match companyname, immediately bin and never tell me).



> First, not all places accept the + character

Additionally you cannot send an email from foobar+dontspamme@gmail.com. If you aggressively use the + character for legitimate signups but need customer support they may not be able to find your account as easily (e.g. "we couldn't find an account associated with e-mail foobar@gmail.com").


> Additionally you cannot send an email from foobar+dontspamme@gmail.com

Um. Why not?


I've been able to. Just set it up as an alias.


This is a good point.

For me, the actual email problem isn't huge - my first line of defense is giving out a burner email unless I want the primary site to be able to contact me. So I don't expect to get truly hammered with spam, and just want a way to know what happened if someone does sell the address.

The invalidation issue is a bigger one, and a subdomain is certainly a better solution for it. Disposable emails and the + notation are nice for people who either don't want to leave gmail, or are bound to it via college or company email system. They aren't the best cure, though.


Not to mention that many spamming setups have known about the + trick for a long time and will trim it out.


You can use dot as well: foobar.dontspamme@gmail.com


Can you? I believe gmail strips out periods, but doesn't discard content after them like it does with +.




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