I hate spam (the reconstituted meat product) but I can't be bothered to hate any other type, at least is it interesting. Is it spam if the sender is clearly identified? Is it spam if it is relevant to the receiver? Is it spam if not part of a mass send (postal or internet)? What's the nearest thing to spamming you've done to promote your website or business? Have you ever founs any useful spam? If so what? Where else on this forum can I read about spam's pro, cons, fors and againsts?
Plain and simple....SPAM is any "commercial" email about a product/service in which the recipient has NOT requested that information/opted in to the sender.....doesn't matter how they "dress it up". (This includes mailing to lists that you may buy or rent and mail to.) SPAM is illegal in many parts of the world and is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment. Legitimate ISPs and hosting companies will terminate your service if you spam. Jim
Spam is any unsolicited online stuff. Like spam comments on myspace, spam mail etc. But there is a gliding scale. Most marketing goes out to people who have not necessarily asked for it. Spam usually implies that it's automated, not personalised and generally annoying. It also implies that it's very cheap for the advertiser to do - and they can therefor annoy hundreds of people if only one of those actually buys something.
I don't like or want television advertising, I don't like billboards, I detest digital media networks in train stations, shopping malls and pubs. Unwanted pop-ups and floatovers really annoy me. They aren't considered spam but are just as offensive (perhaps even more so) than spam emarketing or telephone calls. Most couldn't afford to access the former but could do something with the latter. How does a company with an excellent product or service and no budget get on? (The latter is hypothetical not a direct reference to my business). Is it fair that a multinational with budget clout should do better from the same product or service as the person who invented it? I thought this topic would receive more input as there are so many people on here who readily send a self-righteous, standard anti-spam messages to threads. In my opinion many of these don't appreciate and definitley don't understand the commercial world and I'm certain that most of the organisations they work need commercial success to maintain their jobs. They remind me of administration staff who somehow look down on sales staff even though they are mase redundant when the sales side underperforms. I can see there are scenarios for offensive spammers to be penalised but they are very extreme. I'm not arguing for more spam either so please don't answer this as if I'm the devil of spam or an ultimate upholder of it.
Such as.....? If it is NOT commercial in nature, it is not SPAM under the legal definition and cannot be prosecuted as such. (I am limiting my discussion to emails, since other forms of spam...forums, BB's, etc....are defined by the owner/operator/managers of such forums, BB's, etc.) Jim
I send out targeted, researched link exchange emails to folks from time to time. I think that falls well within the bounds of acceptable use.
While these are usually welcomed by many webmasters and some just trash them, they are considered "acceptable" by the great majority of the recipients because they are seen as helpful, however since they are commercial in nature and unsolicited...and, while any webmaster who is "normal" would probably never do it, a "whacko" webmaster could report you for spam...and it is technically and legally spam. When in doubt, remember it has to be solicited from YOU. And, to cover your back, you should ALWAYS keep all copies of opt in requests in case someone who forgets they opted in ever screams "spam". It's a crazy world. Jim
Hmmmmm....never thought of this. I would have to research this a bit. Considering a non-profit or charity is probably asking for money, I'm not sure how this would be viewed. If an organization is offering free advise, I believe it would have to be limited to that. If they include a website link and they do sell OTHER things on their site, it would be considered spam. Jim
So Jim, are you saying that using one of those "Contact Us" forms or links on a web site to request a link exchange can be considered spam?
Remember, I am just talking about Spam from an email point of view since that is the one that has legal ramifications. Interesting Question. There is a difference because of how one is delivered...... If you use a web form (Contact Us) and the form is NOT submitted using email means, it may annoy the hell out of the webmaster, but it is not LEGAL Spam. If you use an email link on a website, it can be considered Spam legally since it is unsolicited commercial email. Once again, chances are no webmaster will "flag you" for it, but they could....In fact, I have a friend who was soliciting links via email and was reported to his ISP for sending spam...and, they took it VERY seriously. Jim
Sure - the keywords being 'targeted and researched'. I get link requests where people have obviously not even looked at what my site is about.
as mentioned by jim and kh7, it is considered spam when unsolicited. With that being said, many sites do state (albeit in extremely fonts) that your email will be used to send 'useful' information on products. So if one agrees to enter their email in such cases, i think one cannot say that is was unsolicited per se. Nevertheless, if its not spam, it shld also allow users the right to opt out and to say 'STOP!'. As such, if you think that you are sending to targeted customers, and not considered spam, then u shld have this option for those who do not want your targeted mails. My 2 cents....
Don't watch Don't look. etc, etc... There are no costs of receiving this kind of message by your side and this don't go into your privacy. And you can always don't visit these places if you don't like it.
Spam is negative. It just tarnishes the image of the company. And it doesn't have a large success rate. On the other hand it may lead to a single visitor that becomes the biggest customer you have.
What Google says about spam : Trying to deceive (spam) our web crawler by means of hidden text, deceptive cloaking or doorway pages compromises the quality of our results and degrades the search experience for everyone. We think that's a bad thing.