email - always under REconstruction

Who should attend…

Summit 08 is a must-attend event for every marketing professional, brand owner, IT decision-maker, privacy or security professional committed to implementing technologies, business practices and policies that will improve consumer trust and confidence in the security and reliability of e-commerce, online banking and electronic transactions in their organization

Register before April 15, 2008 and SAVE up to $600 Register here>>

Cultivate an atmosphere of online trust where profit opportunities abound. Join us again for the AOTA Summit 08!

If you’re ready to create a more secure experience for your customers and a more lucrative future for your online business, we’re ready to make it happen.

Join in a two-day in-depth exchange of ideas and information with marketing, IT, and operations experts from a range of industries who will be in Seattle to share best practices and critical advice to guide your email, Web, and domain authentication business strategies.

Meet with the experts!

AOTA Summit 2008 brings together the most dynamic line-up of subject matter experts to create a two-day program you can’t afford to miss!

With over 25 presentations, you’ll learn success stories, recommendations, and insights (and how to avoid the mistakes they’ve already paid for!) from over 50 government, technology, marketing and business luminaries including:

• David Baker, VP, Avenue A | Razorfish
• Michael Barrett, CSIO, PayPal
• Tim Callan, VP Product Marketing, VeriSign
• Dave Crocker
• Peter Cullen, CPO, Microsoft
• David Daniels, VP, JupiterResearch
• Tom Donlea, Exec Director, Merchant Risk Council
• Jim Fenton, Distinguished Engineer, Cisco
• Lucy Hoffa, VP, Washington Mutual
• Rajiv Jain, SVP & CTO, American Greetings
• David Jevans, Chair, Anti-Phishing Working Group
• Eric Johnson, VP Security, Bank of America
• Allyn Lynd, FBI Cybercrime Task Force
• Rob McKenna, Washington State Attorney General
• Craig Newmark, Craig’s List
• Ramesh Ratan, EVP & COO, Direct Marketing Association
• Ken Schneider, CTO, Symantec
• Howard Schmidt, Former White House Cyber Security Advisor
• Chris Siouris, U.S. Postal Inspector, USPO
• Melinda Smith - Expedia
• Sal Tripi, Director of Operations, Publishers Clearing House
• Scott Weiss, Co-Founder & VP, GM, IronPort Systems
• Austin Wilson, Director Security Microsoft Corp.
• Michael Zaneis, VP Public Policy, Interactive Advertising Bureau
• and many other visionaries!

Cei care doresc sa participe la AOTA Summit 08 si doresc sa beneficieze de un discount suplimentar sa-mi trimita un email la andrei at whiteimage . net

Este posibil ca in ultimele 3 zile sa fi crescut numarul de emailuri respinse. Motivul este ORDB, un blacklist care si-a incetat activitatea cam in urma cu un an si jumate.

Motivul pentru care acum apar emailuri blocate este acela ca, cei de la ORDB vor sa-i semnalizeze pe toti cei care interogau sistemul lor sa nu o mai faca. Daca cineva va respinge emailurile pe motivul ca sunteti listati in ORDB, puteti sta linistit toate IP-urile din lume sunt listate…ceea ce puteti face… este sa-i contactati pe cei care v-au blocat folosind blacklist-ul ORDB si sa le spuneti sa nu-l mai foloseasca.

Update:

Oricum cei care v-au respins emailurile acum pe motiv de ORDB, au probleme sa primeasca emailuri de la oricine altcineva si mai devreme sau mai tarziu isi vor da seama de problema…Ar fi bine ca toata lumea care nu a mai primit emailuri in ultimele 2 zile sa-si verifice setarile in filtrele antispam.

Q Interactive si Marketing Sherpa au publicat in urma cu 2 zile un comunicat de presa  legat de  modul in care ISP-urile folosesc in mod fundamental gresit butonul “this is spam”.

Cele 2 organizatii lanseaza o invitatie ISP-urilor pentru a rezolva aceasta problema.

Q Interactive si Marketing Sherpa considera  ca  modul in care ISP-urile  masoara reputatia  unui sender cu ajutorul  utilizatorilor finali este fundamental gresit, mai ales pentru ca acea reputatie este integrata in ecuatia care detarmina daca un email sa fie livrat sau nu in Inbox.

Among the most striking findings of the study is the fact that the definition of spam has effectively changed from the permission-based regulatory definition of “unsolicited commercial email” to a perception-based definition centered on consumer dissatisfaction. 

Da, ISP-urile blocheaza emailurile pe care utilizatorii le spun ca nu le doresc. Pana aici nimic nu este gresit din perspectiva celor doua parti. End userii au emailuri pe care si le doresc si emailuri pe care nu si le doresc. ISP-urile au oferit acestora posibilitatea de a oferii feedback, marcand emailurile pe care nu le doresc.

Dar, asa cum este mentionat si in comunicatul de presa:

Over half of the participants, 56 percent, consider marketing messages from known senders to be spam if the message is “just not interesting to me”, while 50 percent of respondents consider “too frequent emails from companies I know” to be spam and 31 percent cite “emails that were once useful but aren’t relevant anymore”. (Respondents could select more than one answer for multiple questions in the survey.) 

Aceasta ar trebui sa fie un semnal de “trezire” pentru marketeri. Abonatii care sunt enervati de numarul mare de emailuri primite sau de emailurile nerelevante, raspund apasand butonul “this is spam”…iar aceasta afecteaza reputatia senderului in fata ISP-ului, si se poate concretiza in blocarea emailurilor acestuia.
Concluziile studiului:

As an email marketing partner for many Fortune 500 brands, we constantly seek to understand email deliverability and consumers’ perception of online marketing messages,” said Matt Wise, president and chief executive officer of Q Interactive. “What this survey uncovered is a major disconnect in consumers’ understanding and use of the ‘report spam’ button, as well as consumers’ definition of spam from ‘I didn’t sign up for it’ to ‘I don’t like it’ — all of which signal that the current system of email spam filtering is a broken process.”

“Spam complaints are the primary metric that ISPs use to determine email delivery. This study shows that consumers don’t really understand how the complaint system works and that emailers don’t understand how consumers define spam,” commented Stefan Tornquist, research director, MarketingSherpa.

To address this problem, Q Interactive calls for ISPs, marketers, advertisers and publishers to come together with industry associations such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau to agree on a solution that is beneficial to consumers and all interested parties. To begin the dialogue, Q Interactive suggests two points for discussion:

– Replace the broken ‘report spam’ button with buttons that more clearly
indicate consumers’ intentions such as an ‘unsubscribe’ button and an
‘undesired’ button.
– ISPs should categorize email senders based on their practices to
identify and reward senders who follow best practices in transparency
and permission.

Posibilitatea userilor a trimite feedback ISP-urilor insemna ca a enerva 100 de persoane pentru a face o vanzare nu prea mai este o metoda efectiva de marketing si tot mai des rezulta in blocarea senderului de catre ISP-ul respectiv. End userilor le place sa ofere feedback si sa opreasca emailurile nedorite…iar ISP-urile includ in calculele lor de reputatie tot mai mult feedback-urle primite. Pentru ISP-uri mentinerea unei reputatii pe baza feedback-ului primit pare sa fie o metoda eficienta pentru a lua decizii legate de emailurile care pot trece si cele care nu …si sincer nu cred ca aceasta se va schimba in viitorul apropiat.

AOL solicita ajutorul furnizorilor de servicii de email marketing (ESP) si ISP-urilor pentru a intelege mai bine cum sunt interpretate erorile returnate de ei:

In regards to bounces - users unknown, specifically - could you please explain the following:

ESPs:
When do you take action on clients because of bounces? What is your threshold for acceptable, and not? Do you have an escalating level of punishment for people who break your thresholds?

ISPs:
What is your threshold for “acceptable” in regards to inbound mail streams and “users unknown”? What do you do when that threshold is breached?

Cand ma gandesc ca unele ISP-uri din .ro reusesc sa livreze un email in 3 zile (trimise din interfata lor catre yahoo de ex)…fara sa le pese prea mult

Encodarea nu este nici pe departe o tehnica noua…Cesar folosea metode simple de encodare ale mesajelor sale catre trupe. El a dezvoltat o metoda de encodare cunoscuta ca ROT-13….metoda presupunea inlocuirea fiecarei litere cu o litera care in alfabet era cu 13 pozitii inaintea ei; adica inlocuiai un “A” cu litera “N” si un “U” cu litera “H”

In prezent avem insa algoritmi mult mai avensati…unii marketeri prin email si in special spamerii folosesc algoritmi de encodare a mesajelor pentru a trece de filtrele antispam. Cum? Foarte simplu…filtrele anti spam au fost proiectate sa scaneze mesaje in format text. Cand un email contine mesaje encodate, filtrele nu stiu sa-l decodifice.

Poate cel mai bun exemplu ar fi un subiect care in mod evident ar fi blocat “HOT VIAGRA FOR YOU” …ar fi inlocuit cu formatul criptat “BTVE9SE9UIFZJQUdSQSBTVE9JQUR0VSSUE=” care din pacate momentan nu este blocat.

Acum probabil va intrebati ce e asta…si cum poate cineva intelege acest subiect encodat? Partea “frumoasa” este ca filtrele antispam nu stiu sa-l citeasca, totusi in clientul de email este afisat in format “citibil”. De ce? Pentru ca standardul RFC 2047 permite encodarea mesajelor in format Base64, format care poate fi interpretat de orice client de email.

La sfarsitul anului trecut IBM Institute for Business Value publica un foarte interesant studiu “The end of advertising as we know it”…ceea ce mi-a atras atentia in mod deosebit este detalierea adoptiei diverselor tipuri de content online pentru divesrse grupuri de varsta, content pentru care unii ar fi dispusi sa plateasca:

Online social networking sites: mass adoption in grupa de varsta 18-34, cea mai mare aboptie pe grupa de varsata 18-24 si adoptie intre 40-49% in grupa de varsta 35-54 de ani
Online User-generated content sites: o adoptie intre 40-49% in grupul de varsta 18-24 de ani…in rest adoptie sub 25%

Online music serveces: adoptie intre  30-39% pentru cei cu varsta intre 18-24 de ani…adoptie in jur de 30% in celelalte grupe de varsta

Online newspaper subscription: cea mai mare adoptie in grupul de varsta 35-44

Online e-Book subscription: cea mai mare adoptie in grupul de varsta 45-54 de ani

TV: premium video content: cea mai mare adopie pe in gupele de varsta 35-44 de ani, 45-55 de ani si peste 55.

Acum cam 2 saptamani, pe bloguri se discuta problema intimitatii (aici, aici si aici)….intimitate pe care trebuie sa o respecte cel care colecteaza si gestioneaza acele date in cazul targetarii demografice combinat cu istoria de browsing. Am mai vb despre asta aici.

..totusi ce inseamna ca un user sa-si dea acordul pentru folosirea informatiilor legate de comportamentul sau pe web
Conform IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) este obligatoriu ca orice persoana sa fie capabila sa blocheze colectarea informatiilor personale, cu exceptia cazurilor in care acele informatii sunt solicitate de catre o lege. Daca o persoana are obtiunea de a oferii informatii legate de propria persoana, acordul trebuie sa fie obtiunut individual si poate fi afirmativ (de ex opt in) sau implicit (de exemplu o persoana nu a refuzat)

(a) Acordul Explicit: Solicitarea ca o persoana sa “semneze/confirme” acordul ca, cineva (un data controller) sa-i colecteze date legate de propriile actiuni si sa se foloseasca de aceste informatii. In concordanta cu Directiva UE privind Protejarea Datelor, acordul explicit este necesar pentru procesarea de informatii sensibile. Mai mult, conform aceleiasi directive cei care gestioneaza datele NU POT considera acord un non-raspuns din partea unei persoane.

(b) Acordul Implicit: Implica considerarea obtinerii acordului atunci cand persoana vizata raspunde afirmativ la o astfel de solicitare SAU nu raspunde deloc.
Totusi noi sunte in UE si targetarea demografica trebuie sa se supuna directivei mentionata mai sus.

Mai exact acordul este necesar pentru cazurile in care vorbim de Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - Any information that can be traced to a particular individual. Usually a set of identifiable information is identified through an identification block of data, such as a name, mailing address, phone number, social security number, or e-mail address. Personal user preferences tracked by a Website via a cookie are also considered personally identifiable when linked to other personally identifiable information provided by a user online.

De ieri, 18 Martie 2008, via WI…si…da, uneori viteza e prea mare

Recunosc, nu m-am uitat de cateva luni pe DirectMag…tutusi acum, cu intarziere, am descoperit un articol foarte, foarte adevarat despre cum multi marketeri se asteapta ca furnizorul lor de servicii de email marketing (ESP-ul) sa le rezolve problema livratului emailurilor in Inbox…atunci cand de fapt principala problema tine chiar de propriile politici si/sau practici:

Let’s put it a little more bluntly: If enough recipients think a marketer’s e-mail program is garbage, no e-mail service provider in the world will be able to prevent spam complaints, and the resulting delivery troubles. Likewise, if a marketer refuses to clean dead addresses off their list because one of those addresses just might, maybe, someday make a purchase, there isn’t a single ESP out there who will be able to stop Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft from diverting the marketer’s messages into recipients’ spam folders or blocking them altogether.

Yet, this industry is rampant with tales of marketers taking their business from one ESP to another and re-polluting their e-mail list with all the addresses the former ESP told them were bad.