I use my gmail address for everything and I don't really get spam (except from services I've subscribed to legitimately but haven't bothered to configure to not send promotional mail).
I never really get promotional mail from 3rd parties at all.
Gmail filters are very good. But if someone with the same name as you starts using your e-mail address for everything because they don't understand or care about needing to see the e-mails they receive then there's very little you can do to stop it other than unsubbing from lists they sign up for (where possible).
I've been getting someone else's e-mail traffic for about 5 years now, on two separate Gmail accounts, and while occasionally hilarious, it is somewhat scary to see how much I can know about their lives from the type of e-mails they get. I have replied to inform some of the senders about the situation with the suggestion that they could tell the other person involved to use a new e-mail address, but it is still happening. You'd think that they would need to see some of the important work-related mail they receive yet they are apparently utterly oblivious.
I occasionally also get similar mail to my own domain through a catch-all filter.
It's quite funny how little some people understand about what an e-mail address is, or how it's supposed to be used, even today.
> very little you can do to stop it other than unsubbing from lists they sign up for (where possible)
It certainly felt that way when someone was giving my GMail out to the cashier at the hardware store where I got no end of digital receipts which I couldn't unsubscribe from because they're providing the email address to the cashier each time. As they were receipts from a large verified brand Google treated them with the highest priority.
I've been in a similar situation for almost a decade now. There's an elderly woman who's email address is one character away on the keyboard from my own, and I often get emails meant for her. I tried for years to respond to inform them that they are using the incorrect email address, to no avail. At this point I've started to go in and disable/cancel anything that is signed up for with my email address and have to aggressively filter spam.
Got it years ago when Gmail was still in beta. My friend sent me an invite and yes I was actually excited to get invited to use the new 'Google Mail'. 1GB mailbox? Wow cool! How times change. The address is mostly dormant but still required for certain services/accounts so I can't just delete it. Probably better to squat it anyway, all things considered.
I use my gmail address for everything and I don't really get spam (except from services I've subscribed to legitimately but haven't bothered to configure to not send promotional mail).
I never really get promotional mail from 3rd parties at all.
Is this just gmail filters being very good?