Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Address Book Seen as Way Around Spam Filters

Dec 3, 2003 12:36AM PST

As Internet service providers grow more vigilant in blocking spam, e-mail marketers want customers to add them to their address books in order to bypass some restrictions.

The largest ISPs are treating mail from senders in the address book differently. At AOL, mail from senders in a member's address book is not stripped of HTML images and links, a move AOL made to prevent spammers from sending pornographic images or using Web beacons to find valid e-mail addresses. (AOL promised marketers some relief from this with an enhanced whitelist that will display HTML images and links from senders that meet strict guidelines.) Microsoft made a similar move with MSN 8.5 and Outlook 11.

For marketers, disabled graphics translate into lower open and conversion rates and a tougher time tracking campaign performance.

http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=25784

Discussion is locked