"Just opt out" is the standard advice on Reddit and HN every time someone complains about cold email volume. It's correct - you should opt out. But "just opt out" implies it's a one-and-done. It isn't. Here's the data.

Over the last 6 months, Inbox Nanny has sent 4,217 removal requests to 15 B2B databases on behalf of paying customers. We track each request through its full lifecycle: submitted, acknowledged, confirmed removed, monitored for re-listing. This is the first time anyone has published numbers from a dataset this big, as far as I can tell.

Success rates by database.

Not all databases are created equal. Some take their compliance obligations seriously. Others... do not.

A few patterns jump out.

The big three honor requests fast

Apollo, ZoomInfo, and Clearbit have the highest compliance rates and tightest timelines. This makes sense - they're the biggest, most-scrutinized players, with actual privacy teams and documented processes. Apollo will email you confirmation within 11 days, ZoomInfo within 22.

Don't read this as them being virtuous. Read it as them having the most to lose if they get a CCPA complaint or a GDPR fine. Their compliance is a risk management decision.

The smaller players are spotty

Lead411, SalesIntel, UpLead, and Kaspr have noticeably worse numbers. Lead411 confirmed only 58% of removals within 30 days, with a median response of 34 days. That's outside both GDPR's 30-day window and CCPA's 45-day window.

In some cases we had to send the request twice - the first one went into a void. We don't have a great explanation for why, but the pattern is consistent: smaller databases with fewer compliance staff are slower and less reliable.

If you're going to manually opt out, prioritize these smaller ones for follow-ups. The big ones will handle themselves.

The re-listing problem

This is the part nobody talks about. The "Reddit advice" of "just go to Apollo and opt out" treats this like a one-shot problem. It isn't. Here's what we saw repeatedly:

1. User opts out of Apollo, ZoomInfo, Lusha. Three databases. Done, supposedly.
2. Two months later, they show up in Hunter, Snov, and Clay. Three new databases. Why?
3. Usually because their company hired a new SDR who ran a new tool against the company domain, triggering a fresh enrichment cycle.

The most aggressive re-listers are RocketReach (31%), Lead411 (34%), and SalesIntel (28%). These databases seem to actively refresh from new sources without checking their own opt-out list rigorously.

Removal isn't a state. It's a maintenance task.

Why GDPR and CCPA matter (and don't).

If you're a US resident, your data rights come from CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and similar state laws. If you're EU, it's GDPR. Both give you the right to know what data a company has on you and request its deletion.

The databases mostly comply with these. They have to. But here's the practical limit: enforcement only happens on individual complaints. There's no automated checking. So if a database "forgets" to delete you, no regulator notices unless you file another complaint.

This is why repeated removal requests from your own Gmail (which is what Inbox Nanny automates) are more effective than a one-time submission through a third-party tool. You're invoking a documented legal right, on the record, from an account that's verifiably yours. That carries weight that an anonymous opt-out form does not.

So what should you actually do.

If you want to handle this yourself, here's the realistic playbook:

1. Identify which databases have you. Without this, you're shooting blind. Use a free scanner or manually check the big three.
2. Submit removal to all of them. Not just Apollo. Here's the full list with links.
3. Track which ones confirm. If you don't hear back in 30 days, resubmit. This is the part everyone skips.
4. Re-scan every quarter. You'll likely find 1-3 new ones each time. Submit again.
5. Don't bother fighting the smallest, slowest ones unless you're getting active pitches from them - the cost-benefit isn't worth it for a database that might rotate you back in a month anyway.

If you don't want to handle this yourself: that's exactly what Inbox Nanny does. We submit, track, monitor for re-listing, and resubmit automatically. $9/month, free scan to start.

What's not in this data

A few honest caveats:

• Our sample skews toward people who've already had problems. These are Inbox Nanny customers - they signed up because they were already getting too much cold email. The re-listing rates might be lower for someone with a quieter inbox.
• We can't measure databases we don't track. There are easily 50+ smaller B2B databases. We focus on the 15 with the most volume because that's where 90%+ of cold pitches actually come from.
• Confirmation isn't the same as compliance. A few times we got "confirmed removed" responses, then saw the user re-added to the same database within 30 days. We count those as re-listings, but they're closer to "the removal didn't stick."

If you want the raw anonymized dataset for academic or journalistic purposes, email me. oded@inboxnanny.com.