Squelch is automated and requires a lot of unique accounts to report a person. That was originally designed for gold seller spam, but works for other spam too. A GM will then review and decide what to do next - lift the squelch or apply a penalty.
Silence is an actual penalty applied by a GM. It is a black mark on the account and additional silences will double in duration each time you get one.
Suspension is removal from game totally for a set period of time. This can be done for chat violations too.
Ban means permanently closed. I realize people do tend to use ban and suspension interchangeably as common lingo.
In your case you got an email with your penalty because a GM applied it and sent you the email template. It was not automatic.
EDIT
Here is a Customer Support Forum Agent explaining it a bit as well.
I’d love for a GM to share insight as to why nearly every person who has been advertising in trade chat this morning has received a warning and/or account silence when doing it for their guilds.
Either GMs are essentially bots just swiping right on tinder or it is automated. On the other hand they may also misunderstand the intent of the community ban which would be even more tragic.
While that article was pretty fantastic back in 2016, it is a news release and is out of date.
Since then the Silence system has changed to be a bit more limiting. Apparently it was not having the impact in curbing the behavior so Blizz restricted it a bit more.
Here is the current Support article on it with the limits.
I do implore you to visit Mal’Ganis trade chat at the current time. Filled with instant spam the moment a stray person posts an advertisement about “GET HIM” and “MASS REPORT” lolo
While they are not GMs, and are not going to be able to overturn anything, the Forum Support Representatives on the Customer Support forum serve as an Information Desk to explain policies.
They may have some insight to offer you. Generally speaking, if your server feels a message is spam, the GMs side with the larger server customer base.
You can of course appeal.
Right click and report for spam. Spamming to tell others to report every little bit is just as disruptive as spamming advertising. BOTH are annoying.
The thing is I was not silenced for spam. I was silenced for “language” which I believe is a different category of reporting since spam is an option as well.
It is the same thing in the template I THINK? One of those two blue posts I linked goes over it I think.
Spam is a form of abusing the chat system is how I think they intend it. Of course there are also lots of other really bad language violations that fall under that category too.
I’m a troll now because I won’t pat you on the back and say “it’s okay”. We are obviously not getting the full story and I’m sorry, you haven’t shown any reason why I should believe you. Calling me a troll just cinches it.
I report for spam if i see the same message before the previous one has gone. If the server is quiet, let the chat fade before posting again. I also report for anything that suggests you goto a webpage or discord - all discussions about carries should be held within the game itself as there will exist a chatlog of said discussion that can be used as a reference point for action.
See? Proof of point, I knew you wasn’t gonna show me your “proof”. And I’ll report you for unsolicited spam when you whisper me. With your history you get longer than a week.
