The new version of Gmail makes it easier to create filters for mailing list. If you select "filter messages like this" when you read a message from a mailing list, Gmail will filter the right messages using the listid: operator, that corresponds to the List-ID header. For example,
listid:googlepress.googlegroups.com is the best way to find messages sent from the Google Press group. You should create filters that automatically label these messages, archive them or mark them as read.
Gmail also has a clever way to handle mail sent to a list you are subscribed to: it bypasses the inbox, but it's still available in Sent Mail or in other views. When you set a vacation responder, it won't be sent to mailing lists. If you don't want to read the next replies from a thread, you can ignore them by clicking on "Mute" in the "More actions" menu: all the replies will be archived.
