Re: State "no-email" lists

From: Steve Werby <steve-lists_at_befriend.com>
Date: Tue 14 Oct 2003 08:54:28 -0500

"Robb Lewis" <robb_at_marketingphysics.com> wrote:
> Steve,
> Your last comment was much closer...users that sign up for
> newsletters often give two permissions (explicitly,
> implicitly or ignorantly)- allow the specific source (e.g.
> CNet Gamespot) to send them email AND allow "partners" to
> send them email. Once you give permission to receive these
> 3rd party partner emails, you get on their rental list and
> then the fun begins. Technically they may be unwanted but
> that does not mean they are spam.

Robb, I agree. It's a grey area - such emails are not entirely unsolicited.
However, based on my hands on consulting work with ISPs and web hosting
companies it doesn't appear that permission-based partner emails make up a
significant percentage of users' unwanted email. I agree with your
statement that most users don't differentiate this type of email from
unsolicited bulk email and such senders should be expected to show proof
that permission was granted, but since the relative volume of such email
appears to be small and it should be easy for such senders to provide proof
I don't envision big problems.

> I can't tell you if it's 10% or even 50% of what you
> identify as spam, but I'll bet your 95% spam has email from
> providers that obtained your address from a legit source and
> can be traced back to a site where you gave permission.
> That's a false positive.

I may not have explained myself well. Over 95% of my unwanted email is
definitely not a result of me granting permission (not even permission I
didn't realize I was granting because I forgot to opt-out or didn't realize
what I was opting-in to). Of the 5% that technically could be, I wouldn't
be surprised if 1/3 was the result of me granting permission that I didn't
realize I was granting (in other words 1-2% of my unwanted email). But back
to the 95%. I make this claim with confidence for two reasons. Over 95% of
the email I receive is sent to email addresses that I am certain I never
used on any site ever. And by certain I don't mean that I'm pretty sure, I
mean that I'm certain. The addresses include addresses I use solely for
domain registration contact info. (spammers scrape these addresses from the
relevant databases), addresses I use solely for discussion lists like this
one (spammers scrape these addresses from web archives or by subscribing)
and addresses using common email addresses that I've never used (sales@,
info@, webmaster@).

I also use tracking email addresses most of the time when I do register on a
site. So if I register on foo.com I may create an address of steve-foocom@
which makes it easy for me to track email coming to that address and see
whether it originated from foo.com if I was so inclined.

I don't think most users are as careful as I am and I realize most users
don't have multiple domains under their control and unlimited aliases and/or
catch-all email addresses so I don't mean to suggest that I'm typical, but
my clients and their customers are overwhelmed by unwanted email and
sampling and user feedback never indicates that permission-based email is
much of a concern, simply because the relative volume of it compared to
unsolicited email is miniscule. If your experiences suggest otherwise would
you mind sharing them?

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/






Received on Tue Oct 14 2003 - 08:54:28 CDT