Email Marketing Research

Spam Filtering Study: Use & Effect

Opt-in News Email Marketing Research Brief: Spam Filtering Study: Use & Effect 2003 shows most Email Service Providers not affected by Spam Filtering Solutions used by ISPs & ESPs when broadcasting opt-in email marketing messages. As more Internet service providers (ISP's) and email service providers (ESP's) leverage Spam filtering technology the risk of undeliverable messages increase for permission-based publishers. Unfortunately email messages that are not Spam (unsolicited bulk email) may become affected due to some Spam filtering technology imperfections. Key word filtering - Some Spam filtering solutions provide users the ability to weed out messages that contain specific words. Users of these services are enabled to add key words into an application that will result in messages containing these words to be filtered from their inbox and either deleted or redirected to a specific folder or trashcan. Analyzing subject line or header - Features to identify Spam include analyzing the subject line, header, and text. Spam filtering services use technology to identify certain text-based statements that are contained within common Spam messages and then filter out the alleged Spam. Blacklisted - In addition to filtering technology, some Spam filtering services also leverage email blacklists, such as http://www.mail-abuse.org and http://www.ordb.org. Blacklists are databases that contain identifying features of prior Spam senders and can block the ISP's messages that have originated and prevent future distribution. The Spam Filtering Effect for Email Marketing Although Spam filtering technology is not a perfect science, the majority of email list hosting services polled in March of 2003 feel that Spam filtering presents a limited effect on their delivering permission-based email messages. Due to the Spam filtering imperfections some times opt-in email campaigns, newsletters and other broadcast communications are affected in a negative manor. As a result the open rates for these messages may decrease considerably thus limiting the readership and participation. According to a March 2003 study, the strong majority of ISPs and ESPs use some form of Spam filtering solution. Although the use of filtering is a majority practice, the type of solution varies greatly including server-based software, third-party redirect solutions and web-based technologies. Spam Filtering Solution Providers SPAM FILTER COMPANY EMAIL FORMAT(S) SUPPORTED SYSTEM/NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEMS CLAIMED ACCURACY BrightMail All Standard Windows, Solaris & Linux 90% Cleanster All Standard N/A Not Available Cloudmark All Standard N/A 90% DigiPort All Standard Windows Not Available GFI Exchange Servers SMTP Not Available HelpMeSoft MS Outlook Windows Not Available MailFrontier All Standard Windows 2000/XP Not Available MailShield All Standard Windows, Solaris & Linux Not Available MailShell POP, Exchange & IMAP Windows 2000/XP Linux 90% MailWasher All Standard Windows NT/2000/XP Not Available MailZapper POP3 & IMAP Windows NT/2000/XP Postini All Standard N/A 95% Spam Agent All Standard Windows NT/2000/XP Not Available Spam Inspector All Standard Windows 99% Spam Killer All Standard Windows NT/2000/XP Not Available SugarGoogie All Standard Windows Not Available *The above data was pulled from the listed companies websites in March of 2003. Email Marketing Campaign Consequences One "email thorn in an advertiser's side" could be the filtering of their legitimate messages from targeted recipient inboxes. According to the March study, 6% of Email List Hosting Providers claim that Spam filtering solutions present a considerable effect on the delivery of their permission-based email broadcasts. As a result of this issue many opt-in email marketing campaigns result with a negative impact including decreased: Messages delivered Open rates Click-through rates Sale conversions Acquisitions Is Copy The Key? Creativity of email marketing campaigns does offer value when the Spam filtering card is played. By understanding the key word factor of Spam filtering technology, a copywriter of email campaigns may become an advertisers best friend. Although Spam filtering technology is not based solely on the "key word" factor alone - it does play a role. Since it is virtually impossible to detect the Spam filtering solution used by every recipient's ISP or ESP, the email copy used can directly impact an opt-in email campaign's success and/or failure. Opt-in News found that 68% of Spam filtering solutions provide key word features and many include features allowing users the ability to add key word(s) to customize their Spam filtering needs. March 2003 Study 68% of Spam filtering solutions provide key word features and many include features allowing users the ability to add key word(s) to customize their Spam filtering needs. In addition, 37% of Spam filtering solutions offers some form of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) technology.

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