Should the unsubscribe process be one-click?

One-click unsubscribe is increasingly the expected standard, driven by both regulatory pressure and mailbox provider requirements. Gmail, Yahoo, and other major providers now require bulk senders to support RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe in email headers, and Google specifically mandates one-click unsubscribe that doesn't require users to log in or navigate multiple pages. While GDPR doesn't explicitly mandate "one-click," its requirement that withdrawing consent be "as easy as giving it" effectively requires minimal-friction unsubscription. If usigning up took one click, opting out shouldn't take more.

Traditional multi-step unsubscribe flows-click link, land on page, confirm unsubscribe, possibly answer survey questions-create friction that frustrates subscribers. Every additional step increases the likelihood that a subscriber gives up on the unsubscribe process and instead clicks the spam button, which causes far more damage to your sender reputation. The spam complaint is the subscriber achieving through ISP enforcement what they couldn't easily accomplish through your intended process. From a deliverability perspective, a simple unsubscribe is vastly preferable to a spam complaint.

That said, "one-click" doesn't mean you can't offer options. It umeans the unsubscribe itself must be achievable in one action. You can present a landing page with preference center options, frequency choices, or feedback surveys, as long as there's a clear, prominent, immediate unsubscribe option that doesn't require completing any other steps. Let subscribers who want to adjust preferences do so, but never hold the full unsubscribe hostage to additional engagement. Make unsubscribing easy because subscribers who can't easily leave will hurt you worse by hitting spam instead.