Page 181 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

E-Mail: The Internet Killer APP That’s Getting Spammed

Google and Yahoo! have introduced mobile search services that
allow cell phone users to search the Internet. Both services are focusing
on local searches for businesses, such as retail stores and restaurants.
All of these new technologies have one thing in common: They’re
helping search engine marketing get better and more sophisticated.

E-Mail: The Internet Killer APP That’s
Getting Spammed

Long before the Web became popular, electronic mail was used on the
Internet for communications. The Web, because of its ability to deliver
photos, sound, and video, was the ideal place for e-mail to become an
advertising medium.
It didn’t take long for e-mail advertising to become the first elec-
tronic curse of the Web as spam e-mail clogged inboxes around the
world. According to Verisign, spam accounts for 80 percent of e-mails.
What promised to be the killer commercial application of the
Internet could be in danger of becoming a marketing wasteland if spam 171
is not controlled. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 passed by Congress
requires that unsolicited commercial e-mails be labeled and include an
opt-out option. The problem is that fly-by-night e-mail marketers are
hard to catch, so legitimate e-mail marketers suffer as the reputation
of e-mail advertising takes a hit.
Many “permission-based” e-mail marketers have found an effective
way to counter the scourge of spam. Permission-based e-mail requires
that ads or marketing offers be sent only to those people who have
signed up and agreed to have a business send e-mails to them.

Making It Personal on the Internet

Online chat rooms, discussion groups, and bulletin boards have made
the Internet an intimate and personal medium. They also have given
advertisers a place to sell their products and services to willing cus-
tomers. The Web allowed users to go beyond simple text messages.
Photos, video, graphics, and sound could be included in online chats.
The Web had few, if any, limits on what could be said or viewed.
Then, as high-speed Internet connections became popular, the use
of chat rooms, discussion groups, and video chat became even more
interactive. Real-time video feeds became possible, opening up the