Google Plus – How I’m Handling Spam

If you are fairly new to Google Plus, you might be curious how to deal with spam, this post was created with you in mind. A great reason for marketers to get engaged with Google Plus is email delivery. Friends who mention friends (mutually circled) in Google Plus by default receive notices via email of said mention. Spammers are wise to this and other tricks, and are seeking to take advantage. Fortunately, there is a way to deal with spammers that is fast and easy.

Google Plus – How I’m Handling Spam

Look what I received via email. It’s an example of the type of things that can land in your email inbox as a result of spammers on Google’s new social network.

Thwart Spammers by Taking Control of Your Google Plus Account

The Soft Approach. Maybe you don’t want to risk it, perhaps the spammer is a really nice person, and you want to be there should they say something more meaningful… Ehem..you can mute the post entirely, so you don’t receive any more notices about it. There is a “Mute” option in the bottom of the notification email.

The Global Approach. Change your email notification settings so you don’t get an email whenever you are mentioned. You’ll still see notifications in the upper dark gray bar next to your name when logged into Plus or your Google account. Notification settings are found in Google+ settings under the gear icon in the dark gray bar, or just follow the link near the mute option, in the notification email.

How I’m Handling Spam in Google Plus

This message I received is from someone I don’t know, someone who I did not add to a circle, I consider that spam. So I took a more dramatic approach, by blocking the user.

The block option also allows you to report the profile to Google. Reporting can be useful for those wanting to fight spam. Once blocked:

Exploring Google Plus

Regardless of what social network you operate on, spam is part of the experience. Google Plus blocked users have not turned up in my inbox anymore, giving me more control and time. That’s a move in the right direction.