Defining Spam

or - Where is the line between the letter and the intent of the law?

PhilC over at SEO Forum threw a mini tantrum over at Web Pro World about getting so many “spam” emails from them and iEntry (WPW’s parent).. The thread, as many things over there do, got heated, closed, and then moved from public view.. But, out of curiosity I got invovled because several months ago I had added all iEntery addresses to my spam filter because I got tired of trying to stop the “Sponsor Updates”..

Within an hour of unblocking iEntry I got my first sponsor update.. It was probably just good luck on my part.. This led to a discussion at WPW with Mike about how they manage their mailing lists.. Apparently WPW is following the letter of the law when it comes to being removed from their mailing list.. You get removed one sponsor at a time.. Not from the whole list.. Does this make sense??

Here is the reasoning.. They seperate each advertiser into a seperate list (presumably) and as you “opt out” you are opted out for that sponsor only.. But all the others are still fair game since you didn’t opt out of that “other” sponsor.. All the rest are fair game and you keep right on getting email advertising long after you thought you had left the program.. Sucks doesn’t it??

So how did you get on this list to begin with?? I don’t recall ever seeing any mention of agreeing to be on their list when signing up for the forum.. You know why?? It’s not there.. It’s hidden.. The last pararaph of the confirmation email says “oh by the way - we are going to spam the crap out of you”.. No really, it does.. I don’t know about you, but I don’t read the signup emails when I sign up for a forum.. Like 99% of the world, I look for that link and click so I can join the forum and start posting.. Guess what, the team at iEntry knows this and takes advantage of you by doing it this way..

There are other ways to get on the list as well.. Sign up over at jayde.com to get a link and you are on the list.. It doesn’t say so when you sign up, but it is in the very small TOS.. Hidden well away so that you don’t opt out to begin with or not sign up at all..

So how do you get off?? Apparently there are 2 unsubscribe links in each email.. The first link opts out of that advertiser only, not the entire iEntry spam program.. But there is a second unsubscribe link further down the page that gets you out of the whole thing.. Again, placed where it is intentionally to decieve people into thinking that iEntry is doing a great job of managing their list, not playing fast and loose with the code of ethics most of us would like to observe when it comes to spam.. When you want off a list you hit unsubscribe.. You don’t hit every one on the page, and you most likely don’t read the small print, you click the first unsubscribe you come to.. Too bad it doesn’t do much good..

Is what ieNtry is doing Spam?? Legally, probably not.. But in my mind it is an incredibly deceitful way of doing things for that allmighty ad dollar.. I would have expected better from the team over there seeing how they are positioned in the industry.. Apparently I was mistaken, they appear to be just another batch of mercenary spammers with a jones for your email address and the money that brings them..

~Fey

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 at 8:48 pm and is filed under Hack The Planet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.