While the Federal Trade Commission to date has focused exclusively on fraud schemes in its anti-spam enforcement efforts, with an occasional dabbling with pornography, that might be about to change. Recipients of spam consider the junk email more of a convenience issue, where the government has typically focused more on the narrow category of criminal enterprises that happen to use spam. In the meantime, legitimate companies have been able to make non-fraudulent offers via spam with near impunity. But ClickZ's Pam Parker reports that one FTC official said that the Commission is 'likely' to start prosecuting what normal people consider spam, under the 2003 Can-Spam Act. Staff Attorney Lisa Rosenthal said at a conference on Friday 'It's likely we'll be looking at legitimate companies.' She noted the requirements to include postal addresses and include working opt-out mechanisms."

FTC to (Finally) Use Anti-Spam Laws Against Spam, Not Fraud Posted by: DTB at 1:55 PM  |  Permalink

Osterman Research said that a recent study showed that almost half of computer users have reduced their email and internet use in the last year due to spam, spyware and other intrusive annoyances, according to ClickZ. More than four out of five of the respondents blamed the spammers themselves and their ISPs, although about two thirds said ultimately it was their own responsibility to fix their spam problem. Less than half said it was a job for the government.

Internet, Email Use Lower for Some Due to Spyware, Spam · MarketingVOX
Posted by: DTB at 8:38 AM  |  Permalink

Return Path surveyed 723 US consumers between the ages of 18 and 54 on December 28, 2004 to find that 98.6% felt they received more e-mail messages during the holiday season than they normally do over the year.

Unfortunately for retailers who turned to e-mail more this holiday season, over 30% of respondents felt that the increase in e-mail that they received over the holidays was nothing but spam. In fact, 60.1% just deleted unwanted e-mails they received between October 31 and December 25, while 49.1% say they were indifferent to the unwanted rise in e-mail.

The results were better, however, for e-mail consumers received from retailers they are familiar with and trust, as Return Path found that though nearly 35% say e-mail had no impact on their shopping habits over the 2004 holiday season, over 31% say e-mail had a 'small' influence. Over 7% say e-mail had a significant influence over their shopping behavior this past holiday.

E-Mail's Success over Holiday Season Posted by: DTB at 9:08 PM  |  Permalink

Virtually all--98.6 percent--of consumers felt they received extra e-mails over the holidays, according to a joint report by eMarketer and e-mail vendor Return Path, which surveyed 723 people. But more than 30 percent of respondents said the e-mails were junk; in fact, 60 percent said they just deleted unfamiliar and unwanted e-mails, received from Oct. 31 through Dec. 25. What's more, just over a third of respondents said the e-mails had no impact on their holiday spending, while another third said the spam had only a 'small' influence on them.

E-mail campaigns were not a complete waste of effort, however, for companies that have an existing relationship with consumers. About 45 percent of respondents said they took advantage of certain e-mail offers, and nearly 37 percent said they used e-mails to comparison shop. 'I'd interpret these numbers to be positive for legitimate businesses who actually have something to offer their customers,' said Trevor Hughes, executive director of the Email Service Provider Coalitio.

Consumers Report Increase In Holiday E-Mail Ads Posted by: DTB at 8:36 AM  |  Permalink

The preliminary results are in, and they are alarming.

Broadcast email vendor EmailLabs has invented a way to measure the length of time HTML email messages are viewed by recipients before they click on a hotlink in the message.

Last October EmailLabs measured this 'read time' across millions of messages sent by their more than 300 clients to permission lists (i.e. people who had signed up for and were expecting to get the email).

'Our initial data indicate that, on average, readers are spending 15-20 seconds on each email they open,' says Loren McDonald, EmailLabs VP Marketing.

'Sometimes that’s because they are so thrilled with the content that they immediately click on a link, and sometimes it’s because they close the email very quickly.' Either way, marketers have precious little time to grab readers’ attention with their creative.   

Just how much are recipients seeing in those 15-20 seconds?

Alarming Research Results: Average Email Open Time is 15-20 Seconds -- Recommendations for Emailers Posted by: DTB at 10:37 PM  |  Permalink

FTC Delays 'Commercial' Email Rules to March

The FTC granted a reprieve to online direct marketers, according to ClickZ, allowing them to come into compliance with rules published in December for the Can-Spam Act as late as March 28, rather than the earlier stated date of February 18. The new regulations require email marketers to hew to more strict policies if emails they send out meet the new criteria for 'commercial' messages rather than 'transactional' messages."

FTC Delays 'Commercial' Email Rules to March Posted by: DTB at 1:12 PM  |  Permalink

EMarketer, reporting on research conducted by IPT in August and September 2004 says that consumers are showing a more favorable opinion of e-mail marketing compared to TV advertising. When asked to pick the most effective marketing communication channel, 32% of consumers say e-mail, not far behind the 39% that choose television. The report claims, 'e-mail is fast encroaching on TV's territory as the king of promotion.'

Probing consumers to find out what makes them most likely to respond to e-mail messages, the study found that Discounts or money-off offers top the list, followed closely by a general interest in the product.

Most Influential Aspect of Marketing email in UK, 2004 (% of respondents)

Discounts 27%
General product interest 24%
Prize drawing 20%
Brand familiarity 20%
Attractive images 5%
Humor 4%
Source: IPT October, 2004

The report finds that 92% of industry professionals currently include e-mail in their marketing budgets, and 51% of them intend to increase their spending next year.

Center for Media Research - Daily Brief Posted by: DTB at 8:26 AM  |  Permalink