Spam: It’s Not Just for Okinawa Any More My mother-in-law asked me the other day why she has so much spam in her inbox — hasn’t the problem been largely solved? While I know many people who read my blog are in the industry and know the answer to this, many aren’t/don’t (this was feedback from my reader survey a couple weeks ago), so I thought I’d take a minute and give an admittedly overly-simplistic explanation of two big trends going on in spam these days that are keeping filters working overtime dealing with the sheer volume of spam flooding their networks. Trend #1: Image Spam. These are mostly those "hot stock" scams you see emailed around, but there are…
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SUGGing and FRUGGing: Practices as Ugly as They Sound
SUGGing and FRUGGing: Practices as Ugly as They Sound (Below is the beginning of my December column for DM News.) We love surveys. Though many people in direct marketing don’t know it, we have a large business unit, Authentic Response, that provides a global online sample aimed at helping market researchers connect with qualified panelists via our MyView portal. And, like most companies, we use surveys to get a read on what our customers want from us and how we can improve their experience with us. Market research is an industry that prides itself on accuracy and purity of data, which is why I want to use this column to let direct marketers know how painful it is when companies…
Blog on for Swerdloff
Blog on for Swerdloff My colleague Craig Swerdloff, who runs our Postmaster Network lead generation business and is one of the smartest people in the online advertising business, has started blogging. Of particular note is this post, in which he talks about the concept of explicit vs. implicit consent in advertising. His thinking is a lot like some of the things I’ve written about in the past, like the New Media Deal and the We Media Deal. The bottom line is that advertising has to be valuable and relevant for end users — and properly/carefully delivered. Welcome to the blogosphere, Craig!
Whiplash at Google
Whiplash at Google A friend of mine who works at Google invited me over to have lunch last week. It was fun to see their NY office — it had a similar fun vibe to their main campus in Mountain View. But it was a study in contrast in terms of how they treat guests. First, I had to sign a one-sided NDA in order to enter the premises. Totally offputting as the first point of contact and a requirement to even have lunch. I know other companies do that was well but was surprised given the whole “do no evil” thing to see it at GOOG. But then of course, there was the free super gourmet cafeteria: hazelnut-encrusted wild…
ROI Radio Interview
ROI Radio Interview Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Blue Sky Factory and a client of ours, runs a podcast series on his blog called ROI Radio. Last week, he interviewed me. It’s a bit long, but feel free to listen or download here. We mostly cover things related to Return Path — our products and how we do things — but we also talk a bit about the growth and development RSS/feed technology and FeedBurner.
Help Me, Help You, Part II
Help Me, Help You, Part II Thanks to the nearly 100 readers who responded to my reader survey this past week. While I’m not sure it’s a truly statistically significant base of OnlyOnce’s audience (I’ll have to ask my friends over at Authentic Response), I’ll treat it like it is. Here’s what I learned. First, the general results: Satisfaction levels are good – 46% are regular readers and love it, 48% read occasionally and think it’s ok, and only 6% gave it an “eh – wouldn’t miss it if it went away” Entrepreneurship is the most popular topic, with 86% interest, and Leadership/Management is a close second at 82%. Online/Email Marketing came in at 61% and Book Reviews at 43%. …
Help Me, Help You
Help Me, Help You I’m conducting a really short reader survey about OnlyOnce. There are about 10 questions, half about the blog, and half about reader demographics. Please take 2 minutes to complete it for me so I know how I’m doing! All responses are anonymous, as you’ll see. Click here to go to the survey.
Use Your Powers for Good
Use Your Powers for Good Neil Schwartzman, our compliance officer for our Sender Score Certified whitelist program, wrote a great post on the Return Path blog entitled How the Sender Community Can Help Fight Spam. If you’re a commercial mailer, I’d encourage you to read it. It’s a great perspective from a long-time anti-spam leader.
Second-Class Status for a First-Class Channel
Second-Class Status for a First-Class Channel (Below is the beginning of my December column for DM News.) The e-mail industry has changed a lot in the seven years since we started Return Path. And the past few years have been the most exciting in many ways. As the spam problem becomes more manageable, e-mail has enjoyed a renaissance, both from the marketer and the consumer’s view. So it surprises me that so many companies still don’t take e-mail as seriously as other direct marketing strategies. Too often…(read the rest at DMNews here).
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Part II
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Part II Two years ago, when we got Vonage at home, I blogged raves about the service, which I continue to believe today (although I do hear mixed reviews of it from time to time, depending on the user-in-question’s internet connection). And I blogged about Skype when I started using that last year. The theme of both posts was a big “uh oh” to phone companies everywhere. So let me add another note on this theme. I spent some time yesterday at the offices of Skype, now a client of ours. From the minute I walked in the door, something seemed odd about the office. I couldn’t put my finger on it, there just seemed…
A Tale of Two Strategies
A Tale of Two Strategies Two headlines right next to each other in today’s Wall Street Journal tell an interesting story. First, they tell of Google’s strategy to allow advertisers to use Google’s web site to bid on and buy print advertising in over 50 leading newspapers. Then comes CBS’s strategy to bring in a new executive digital media M&A guru, Quincy Smith from Allen & Company, to “find the next YouTube.” (These links should work for a week, but I think that’s all the Journal allows – sorry!). So there you have it. CBS’ grand interactive plans are about trying to do value-based Internet acquisitions. Best of luck. Les Moonves’ quote is somewhat sad — “This shows how serious…