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If it isn't confirmed opt-in, it's also possible your subscribers didn't even sign themselves up. Side note: Anyone who calls it double opt-in has a whiff of '

If it isn't confirmed opt-in, it's also possible your subscribers didn't even sign themselves up. Side note: Anyone who calls it double opt-in has a whiff of 'spammer' to them even if they're not. Confirmed opt-in is a more accurate term as without that confirmation click in the initial email, there's a chance the subscriber didn't sign themself up. There are quite a few 'email bomb' services that will sign a target email up for 1000s of 'single opt in' newsletters.

erik_seaberg 9y ago
This, and typos from people who can't quite spell their email address. We don't call username + password "double login" and username without password "single login" for the same reason.
rconti 9y ago
I even use the term "double opt-in" when ranting at companies that don't use it. I guess I'll switch terms to confirmed opt in, but I'd never heard of it until today, so I'd be careful with that brush.
- JohnTHaller 9y ago
  If you were around and doing legit email newsletters 15 years ago or doing antispam configurations, the term was 'confirmed opt in' or 'verified opt in'. Email marketing firms schemed to use 'double opt in' to make it seem more onerous and draw attention away from the fact that 'single opt in' meant 'unverified opt in' that was vulnerable to email bombing utilities. Sadly, as the email marketing firms do most of the talking about it these days, many people only know the term 'double opt in'. But for folks like me that were both advising legit businesses on email newsletters and working with ISPs to block spam, 'double opt in' always harkens back to the code spammers or spammer-adjacent folks used.
  - hammock 9y ago
    I'm curious, how does the law, for example in Germany where it is required, call double opt-in/confirmed opt-in?
    - JohnTHaller 9y ago
      Most pieces in English are using the terminology they use for other things. So, email marketers call it 'double opt in' and privacy activists and anti-spammers call it COI.
      - wink 9y ago
        Anecdata: Have handled sign up forms with double opt-in for many companies in Germany for over 10 years and have never read "Confirmed opt-in", everyone uses "Double Opt-in" to mean "input email, get confirmation mail, no further emails sent until confirmation link clicked". BTW, the German Wikipedia page lists the term, but the paragraph confuses me a little as it has it exactly backwards as was just mentioned: "Das „Double-Opt-In-Verfahren“ ist vom „Confirmed Opt-in“ zu unterscheiden. Beim „Confirmed Opt-In“ wird an die eingetragene E-Mail eine Bestätigungs-Mail ohne Bestätigungslink geschickt. Der Verbraucher müsste dieser Mail widersprechen, um keine unerwünschte Werbung zu erhalten. Teilweise wird der Begriff von Spammern missbraucht. So nehmen manche Spammer in Anspruch, „Confirmed Opt-in“ zu betreiben, wenn ein neuer Empfänger eines Newsletter-Abonnements nach der Eintragung eine E-Mail zugeschickt bekommt, in der er auf das soeben getätigte Abonnement hingewiesen und davon in Kenntnis gesetzt wird, wie er das Abonnement wieder beenden kann." (feel free to google translate the blurb, translation's ok)

erik_seaberg 9y ago

This, and typos from people who can't quite spell their email address. We don't call username + password "double login" and username without password "single login" for the same reason.

rconti 9y ago

I even use the term "double opt-in" when ranting at companies that don't use it. I guess I'll switch terms to confirmed opt in, but I'd never heard of it until today, so I'd be careful with that brush.

JohnTHaller 9y ago
If you were around and doing legit email newsletters 15 years ago or doing antispam configurations, the term was 'confirmed opt in' or 'verified opt in'. Email marketing firms schemed to use 'double opt in' to make it seem more onerous and draw attention away from the fact that 'single opt in' meant 'unverified opt in' that was vulnerable to email bombing utilities. Sadly, as the email marketing firms do most of the talking about it these days, many people only know the term 'double opt in'. But for folks like me that were both advising legit businesses on email newsletters and working with ISPs to block spam, 'double opt in' always harkens back to the code spammers or spammer-adjacent folks used.
- hammock 9y ago
  I'm curious, how does the law, for example in Germany where it is required, call double opt-in/confirmed opt-in?
  - JohnTHaller 9y ago
    Most pieces in English are using the terminology they use for other things. So, email marketers call it 'double opt in' and privacy activists and anti-spammers call it COI.
    - wink 9y ago
      Anecdata: Have handled sign up forms with double opt-in for many companies in Germany for over 10 years and have never read "Confirmed opt-in", everyone uses "Double Opt-in" to mean "input email, get confirmation mail, no further emails sent until confirmation link clicked". BTW, the German Wikipedia page lists the term, but the paragraph confuses me a little as it has it exactly backwards as was just mentioned: "Das „Double-Opt-In-Verfahren“ ist vom „Confirmed Opt-in“ zu unterscheiden. Beim „Confirmed Opt-In“ wird an die eingetragene E-Mail eine Bestätigungs-Mail ohne Bestätigungslink geschickt. Der Verbraucher müsste dieser Mail widersprechen, um keine unerwünschte Werbung zu erhalten. Teilweise wird der Begriff von Spammern missbraucht. So nehmen manche Spammer in Anspruch, „Confirmed Opt-in“ zu betreiben, wenn ein neuer Empfänger eines Newsletter-Abonnements nach der Eintragung eine E-Mail zugeschickt bekommt, in der er auf das soeben getätigte Abonnement hingewiesen und davon in Kenntnis gesetzt wird, wie er das Abonnement wieder beenden kann." (feel free to google translate the blurb, translation's ok)