NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Is spam costing us more than we think?
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Is spam costing us more than we think?
Andy Bourland (andy_at_clickz.com)
Wed, 17 Dec 1997 22:31:44 -0500
At 08:59 PM 12/16/97 , Mary Firme wrote:
We followed protocol and set our listserv
>to opt-in and a required a reply to our email confirmation within 48 hours
>or the address was deleted. ... we determined that they (and many others)
had not understood the need to "confirm" something they had so obviously
requested. To them the followup email from us was simply a subscribe
confirmation. ... Given the positive
>benefit, low (weekly) frequency, and the need to overcome the unhappiness
>of subscribers who never got the newsletter they ordered, we've taken the
>*cautious* step of removing the confirmation step. So far we've had no
>complaints.
I made the exact same decision for the same reasons a few months ago when
we launched the HTML Mail version of ClickZ Today. I lived to regret it.
You can read about my experience ("The Dark Side of Email") at
http://www.clickz.com/archives/120597.html
There are many wackos out there.
One group signs up their friends and enemies for mailing lists they didn't
ask for, thinking they are being funny.
Another group (some of those who have received your emails) are among the
militant, lunatic fringe of anti-spammers who will mailbomb you, call your
home late at night and threaten you, send you obscene messages and threaten
you. In their simple minds, the source of ANY email they receive that they
did not explicitly request is a SPAMMER. Hence they have no qualms reaking
all kinds of havoc upon them. All of the above happened to me.
And one other group, just in case you haven't taken the precaution of
setting your group up as a "moderated" group, are spammers themselves, who
are sifting about looking for unmoderated mailing lists they can point
their messages to. I have prevented three get rich quick spams from going
out to my list of 5000 this week alone. Today is Wednesday. .. About par
for the course.
So be wary of the email zone. It can be a pretty scary place if you aren't
careful...
Andrew Bourland, Publisher
ClickZ: The Daily Stop for Internet Marketers
<http://www.clickz.com/>http://www.clickz.com
***************************************************
Get ClickZ Delivered Daily in Full HTML
<mailto:CLICKZ-L-SUBSCRIBE-REQUEST_at_PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM>mailto:CLICKZ-L-SUB
SCRIBE-REQUEST_at_PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's Online Advertising Discussion List sponsors:
Hoover's Online and Infoseek
Sign up for a FREE 30-day trial subscription to Hoover's Online.
In-depth company profiles, news and more! Search by company, industry,
location and sales. Go to http://www.hoovers.com/trial/oaft.html
----
When it comes to ad performance, not all search engines are equal.
Infoseek gives you solid reporting and highly targeted placement.
(And we return calls, too.) http://info.infoseek.com/doc/sponsors.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Advertising Discussion List To Unsubscribe send UNSUBSCRIBE
http://www.o-a.com/ to online-ads-request_at_o-a.com
