The Worst Spammers of 2014

Daniel Bean
·Assistant Editor
Updated

On the flip side of “year’s best” lists at this point on the calendar, we also have “year’s worst” rankings. Email anti-clutter tool Unroll.me has just released its 2014 SPAMMYs, showcasing the sites that were the largest spam email offenders this year.

Chances are, if you have an email account, you’ll recognize some of these names.

Congratulations are due to online deal and coupon service LivingSocial for having sent out 285 pain-in-our-neck emails on average per user, tops for this year. At honorable mention was competitor Groupon, a close second with 282 emails per subscriber.

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Check out the rest of the SPAMMYs rankings below, which include the email services that received the most unsubscribe requests by Unroll.me’s customers, and also a rating of the spammiest holidays by number of themed emails this year.

(Oh, and we also featured Unroll.me as one of the ways to keep email from ruining your life. Check that out here.)

Most spam emails sent:

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  1. LivingSocial: 285 emails sent on average per user

  2. Groupon: 282 emails sent on average per user

  3. Facebook: 263 emails sent on average per user

  4. LinkedIn: 199 emails sent on average per user

  5. Twitter: 117 emails sent on average per user

  6. Amazon: 97 emails sent on average per user

  7. Pinterest: 87 emails sent on average per user

  8. Google: 62 emails sent on average per user

  9. Google Plus: 62 emails sent on average per user

  10. YouTube: 43 emails sent on average per user

  11. Etsy: 29 emails sent on average per user

  12. eBay: 27 emails sent on average per user

  13. Tumblr: 23 emails sent on average per user

  14. Yelp: 21 emails sent on average per user

  15. TicketMaster: 21 emails sent on average per user

Most unsubscribe requests:

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  1. StumbleUpon: 51 percent unsubscribe rate 

  2. MoveOn.org: 48 percent unsubscribe rate

  3. Jetsetter: 47 percent unsubscribe rate

  4. Monster: 44 percent unsubscribe rate

  5. SlideShare: 44 percent unsubscribe rate

  6. Live Nation: 43 percent unsubscribe rate

  7. Angie’s List: 41 percent unsubscribe rate

  8. Rent The Runway: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  9. GameStop: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  10. NoMoreRack: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  11. Travelocity: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  12. Ancestry: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  13. Sports Authority: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  14. ProFlowers: 39 percent unsubscribe rate

  15. Care.com: 38 percent unsubscribe rate

Most holiday-related spam emails sent: 

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  1. Cyber Monday: average of 25 emails per user

  2. Black Friday: average of 22 emails per user

  3. Veterans Day: average of 18 emails per user

  4. Thanksgiving: average of 17 emails per user

  5. Election Day: average of 17 emails per user

  6. Halloween: average of 17 emails per user

  7. Tax Day: average of 16 emails per user

  8. Columbus Day: average of 16 emails per user

  9. Valentine’s Day: average of 15 emails per user

  10. Ash Wednesday: average of 15 emails per user

  11. Cinco de Mayo: average of 15 emails per user

  12. Saint Patrick’s Day: average of 15 emails per user

  13. Good Friday: average of 14 emails per user

  14. Presidents’ Day: average of 13 emails per user

  15. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: average of 13 emails per user

Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com. Follow me on Twitter at @danielwbean.