Internet Changes Everything

Fearing Misuse Label, Advertisers Wary of E-Mail

Advertisers are getting smart and this without legislation.

Fearing Misuse Label, Advertisers Wary of E-Mail
Yahoo News
Thu Aug 28, 7:18 PM ET
By Michele Gershberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even as they boost their budgets for online advertising, major U.S. companies will be wary of e-mail marketing campaigns until the menace of unsolicited "spam" e-mail has been tamed, top industry officials said on Thursday.

"Our marketers are basically saying spam is killing (e-mail marketing)," Bob Liodice, president of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), told Reuters.

E-mail marketing "clearly will be muted until they have a greater degree of confidence that their messages will go through in the way that they want them to," he added.

But Liodice was quick to point out that he believes using e-mail as a legitimate marketing tool "will skyrocket" once spam is under control.

In the past, leaders in the advertising industry have trailed other trade and consumer groups who are pressing for tougher legislation and enforcement against spam.

That is changing, however, as companies invest more on online advertising. Concern has arisen about spam because e-mail is easily deleted by consumers angered by the explosive growth of the often deceptive or vulgar messages.

The ANA, which represents more than 300 leading companies, and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, known as the "4As," are hammering out guidelines for using e-mail to market products and services credibly.

A nine-point proposal they have drawn up defines spam as "unsolicited, bulk, untargeted commercial e-mail," and tries to distinguish it from more legitimate, direct online marketing.

The proposal calls for commercial e-mail to be sent from working Web addresses, preferably ones which include a company or brand name to clearly identify the sender.

E-mail ads should have an easily located option which consumers can mark if they do not want to receive further mail, but the proposal does allow e-mail marketers to send targeted, unsolicited e-mail if a consumer has not "opted out."

JUST SAYING NO TO "DO NOT SPAM"

O. Burtch Drake, president of the "4As," said most leading advertisers already abide by such rules.

He said the industry prefers formal recommendations for business practices rather than advocating a "do-not-spam" list similar to the "do-not-call" list for consumers who do not want to hear from telephone marketers.

"In the case of spam, if you make up a list of all the addresses, that becomes a pretty valuable list (for spammers to send more e-mail)," Drake said.

While advertisers still prefer other online marketing tools like paid search listings, direct marketers are keen on preserving e-mail for ads, especially if a "do-not-call" list dries up other avenues for reaching customers.

"I don't think we all recognized how big the problem was going to be until six to nine months ago," said Greg Stuart, president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The IAB is also planning to develop e-mail ad guidelines, he said.

Stuart said some advertisers waited on the sidelines hoping that technology, in the form of spam filters, or legislation would be put in place to stem the tide of spam.

But a problem with spam filters is that they have blocked e-mail from companies with which a consumer wants to communicate.

One other problem leading to the proposals has been that new laws and stricter enforcement have been slow off the mark.

August 29, 2003 at 09:40 PM in Spam | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home