I didn't uncheck any marketing box in months at this point, and I still didn't get a single spam mail other than usual GOG fluff.

Well, I can't really speak to that, because I DO uncheck them every time, I claim a freebie.
What I can say, though, is that I NEVER receive ANY spam - not even the usual GOG fluff.

But, of course, that's something, some here simply don't want to understand, because it works against their narrative.

The only box I have unchecked is the wishlist alert, and yet I'm receiving nothing more than the usual (news about new games, sales, free games, codes with discounts). About 4-6 e-mails a week on average. When I had the wishlist on, there were many more (as frequent as someone's wishlist's length).

It's not underhand tactics if they advise you of the situation before you claim the free game ... and you don't have to claim.

As many of us suspect, GOG aren't doing fantastically well, and I guess things like this are part of their survival strategy.

I don't like that they do it, but on the other hand I want GOG to survive.

In the end it is often down to some kind of compromise, and really a DRM-Free store like GOG, would constantly be about compromise in this DRM default based world. I don't believe for an instant that it is easy what they do, or that they feel great about some of the compromises they feel they need to make.

The cracks are already showing, and this is just another one.

Speaking of codes, it seems gog is sending some(if not all?) of those codes to the alert bell now(I got a few recently). Might not even need those newsletters anymore if people could get their discount codes without them ;)

Yes, I noticed. I wish the next step would be to send codes only for games the subscriber has in his/her wishlist! Such "personalized" discounts would be difficult though, I imagine.

I decided to let a week pass and counted the most recent e-mails sent to me, so you know! (While I usually delete them right after I read them).
Since Sunday 8-9 to Saturday 14-9, I had exactly 4 e-mails. The first was about the back to school sale, which was about to end, and the others were discount codes. So, no big deal really!