<\/strong>What do Barry Manilow, a mind-numbingly useless assortment of gadgets, a host of underappreciated SEO optimizers, and a throng of sexually frustrated Russian spammers have in common? Well, besides threatening to be the set-up for a joke that can\u2019t possibly have a happy ending, they\u2019re also topics of emails that are snuggled up all cozy and forgotten-like in my spam folder. A quick scan of the spam folder\u2019s contents, in fact, indicate that the spam filter is doing exactly what it was designed to do: filter out the crap and put it exactly where it belongs. But what about the much-ballyhooed raft of spam email that comes from \u2018legitimate\u2019 marketers? Most would argue that the spam folder is exactly where that<\/em> cross-section of spam belongs, and they\u2019d be right. In fact, a recent report from the email intelligence firm Return Path reveals that we may just be winning the battle on businesses that want you to buy their endless glut of Tchotchkes, trinkets, baubles and knickknacks, whether you need them or not. Yes, the same firms that send you the emails whether you ask for them or not.<\/p>\n

Just Say No: The 70 Percent<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Email Intelligence Report<\/a>, published on November 27, offers some hopes of a Christmas miracle, reporting two significant findings in the war on retail spam. First, 70% of all \u201cthis is spam\u201d complaints by users are aimed directly at marketers (i.e., the semi-legitimate branch of the spam tree). States George Bilbrey, Return Path co-founder and president, \u201coftentimes marketers may feel the return on investment is strong enough that a \u2018large blast\u2019 with some bounce backs isn\u2019t a big deal, but what may seem like a nominal problem could in fact be a much larger issue if recipients begin associating their brand with spam and ultimately make decisions based on that perception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amen. Users do feel the weight of so many ill-conceived and oppressively frequent blasts, and while we all enter the season for giving, retailers are ruthless in their focus<\/a> on the backside of that noble human quality (i.e., the taking). Return Path notes that the 70% figure is far higher than other sources of spam, such as botnets, which only constitute three percent of spam complaints and 11% of spam trap hits, or when the email gets filtered into the junk folder. Compared to the same time last year, Return Path notes, \u201cU.S. marketers\u2019 inbox placement rates decreased roughly five percent and spotlights the larger trend of stagnant inbox placement rates over the past 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to CorpComms Magazine<\/a>, the findings of Return Path\u2019s study are \u201cbased on the inbox, blocking and filtering rates for more than 315,000 campaigns using data from both actual subscriber panel and seed list technology. For each campaign, Return Path recorded whether the email was missing, received in the inbox, or filtered to the junk\/spam folder.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Traps Work, They\u2019re Great<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I recently had a minor rodent problem and spent two weeks trying to find the right traps to catch the little buggers. I started with the humane catch-and-release traps, but they were virtually useless, and I had no choice but to resort to a somewhat humane trap that quickly electrocuted the things. Problem solved, but it was a frustrating two weeks. There\u2019s an analogue in there for email and spam filters, where administrators and users are often faced with a trial-and-error, on-the-job training process, as it were; but the endless fight to keep our inboxes clean seems to be working somewhat: Return Path\u2019s uncovered another interesting statistic, this one about spam filters. 60% of spam trap hits are marketing messages, causing real problems for email marketers, but offering a much-needed reprieve for consumers who often don\u2019t get the chance to opt-in, and where opting-out can be a dangerous practice when one doesn\u2019t fully trust the source of the message.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a significant number. If six out of every ten messages are being dumped for spam, then there is hope for us, and a distinct and effective message is being sent to retailers, many of which don\u2019t care whether you want the email or not. In the past, I\u2019ve used the term \u201cfeeding frenzy\u201d to describe the endless waves of greed that grip retailers, especially this time of year<\/a>. And we\u2019ve seen instances where penalties have been levied, against companies you might not expect, like Vodafone<\/a>, Papa John\u2019s<\/a>, and Virgin Blue<\/a>, to name a few. With any luck, there\u2019s more to come<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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