related, advertising and other kinds of spam, are watching carefully as the free e-mail service adds a new spam filter.
Yahoo tells CNET it's developed software to filter unsolicited bulk e-mail automatically and has begun filtering spam to separate folders Wednesday.
"The software, which was created internally, will automatically determine whether e-mail being sent to a user is unsolicited and then take appropriate action," Yahoo communications vice president Geoff Ralston tells CNET. "We have an automatic system that can see all messages that come into Yahoo Mail and uses technology to determine whether something is spam or not."
He didn't specify how the new software works, claiming concerns that spammers would exploit the filter. Nor did he say whether the technology will be patented and marketed to other e-mail systems, CNET says.
Spam is said to account for some 10 percent of all e-mail traffic, but CNET says filters aren't widely regarded as solutions. Hotmail put in a filter to block servers known to be used by chronic spammers, but users reportedly saw no difference in the volume of spam they were getting. But some anti-spam activists say Yahoo and Hotmail took steps in the right direction, CNET says.
