THE
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY presents:
By Joshua Brown
The Internet SPAM e-mail issue is not a simple as it may appear
at first glance. I have listened to heated argument on both
sides. This article doesn't present either side - it is simply
a statistical look at the "bulk" e-mail reality and
some conclusions that can be drawn from it. The goal of this
article is to give you the TRUE GRIT about spam.
Let me go ahead and summarize my conclusions right here and
now. Please read this carefully: I conclude that bulk e-mail
is not significantly different than other, more accepted advertising,
but is not practical or effective for most Internet advertisers.
Let's examine some precedents in advertising:
There is a simple fact about advertising: It's mostly annoying
and intrusive. People would generally rather not be advertised
to. When they do want to find out about products, they want
a "consumer reports" style comparison of prices and
quality by category, which is only in the best interest of those
advertisers who come out on top in the comparison.
Many forms of advertising are irritating to the consumer, yet
effective for the advertiser. Here are some comparisons: (Statistics
based on a survey of 100 Internet using households, three TV
stations, two newspapers, and four magazine publishers along
with information from the FTC web site.)
- Depending on amount of e-mail used, can be from 10% to
90% of mail received
- Nonlinear (can be "skipped over" unread) - typically
non-interruptive
- May increase service cost to end user
- May contain offensive or fraudulent material (unregulated)
- In some cases, can cause problems for ISPs and users
- Depending on volume of phone traffic, may be from 1% to
15% of phone traffic
- Interruptive (Demands immediate attention, may interrupt
incoming calls)
- Affects bandwidth, but at negligible cost to end user
- MOST COMMON vehicle for fraudulent advertising
- Telemarketers are often manipulative or offensive
- Can be time-consuming to deal with
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