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Opt-In E-Mail May Be the Solution to Spam

Searching for new ways to generate revenue, online industries are prepared to battle for the right to send promotional e-mail, despite user complaints. Opt-in e-mail lists could be a way for you to opt out.

By Lisa Moskowitz, PCWorld   

Opt-in e-mail tailors messages to categories in which a user has specifically shown interest. You can voluntarily place yourself on one of these lists by filling out a form and checking off subjects of interest. Built and maintained by several Web-based companies, these lists often reveal little more to the list buyer or renter than your e-mail address and your category preference.

Currently, the most common method of advertising by e-mail is to send messages to targeted, but highly generalized, consumer lists. Most users don%squott realize that they can usually opt out of a mailing list once they receive a message.

One of the biggest opt-in e-mail list providers is NetCreations. The service has an estimated 3 million addresses and lets subscribers choose from about 3,000 subject categories, said Rosalind Resnick, president of NetCreations.

%dquotThe tide is turning in favor of opt-in,%dquot said Resnick. %dquotOn the Internet, it really has to be opt-in, otherwise you%squotll annoy a lot of people and your response rate isn%squott going to be very high.%dquot

The consumer response rate to NetCreations%squot opt-in e-mail messages is 7 to 10 percent, Resnick said. The response rate to a typical spam advertisement is less than 1 percent. NetCreations%squot advertising clients include Prodigy, IBM, and AT&T.

Although opt-in e-mail lists are catching advertisers%squot attention, they are not likely to replace unsolicited e-mail promotions. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), which represents 3,600 direct marketers worldwide, recognizes opt-in as a component of an online promotions model that also includes self-regulated, bulk e-mail advertising, said Chet Dahzell, a DMA spokesperson.

%dquotIf e-mail is targeted based on consumer interests, then there will be acceptance of that advertising even if the consumer didn%squott specifically ask for it,%dquot he said.

Steve Markowitz, CEO of Intellipost, a new opt-in service that launched in June, disagrees.

%dquotThe DMA wants to protect unsolicited commercial e-mail. We don%squott believe that%squots a defensible position,%dquot Markowitz said.

Intellipost%squots BonusMail service not only offers subscribers the option of choosing promotion categories, but also rewards them when they receive e-mail, read it, and respond to the offer. Consumers can accrue points that can then be redeemed with a variety of vendors, including The Gap and American Airlines.

%dquotOur view is that within a very short period of time you%squotll see spam legislated against,%dquot said Markowitz. %dquotResponsible direct marketers have already begun to embrace the opt-in paradigm.%dquot

For now, the Clinton administration has made it clear that it will not regulate promotional e-mail practices, leaving it to the industry to develop its own guidelines.