E-MAIL

Bad Gmail Rising

While Gmail is still a distant third to Yahoo and Hotmail in terms of numbers of inbox holders. Google’s highly user-friendly free e-mail service is by far the fastest growing of the three, according to recent numbers from comScore.

Gmail’s rise in prominence is not necessarily good news for marketers.

In July, Gmail edged past AOL as the third most popular Web-based e-mail service, with 37 million unique monthly visitors compared to AOL’s 36.4 million, according to comScore.

The No. 2 Web-based e-mail service is Windows Live Hotmail, which has 47 million unique visitors, according to comScore. And Yahoo Mail by far leads the pack with 106 million monthly unique visitors.

However, in an eye-popping statistic, comScore reported the number of Gmail inbox holders grew by 46% between July 2008 and July 2009.

During the same period, AOL’s inbox holders dropped by 19% and Yahoo’s grew by a healthy 22%, according to comScore.

Gmail’s growth shouldn’t come as a surprise, given its search-engine parent’s popularity and its user-friendly interface and features. However, one thing Gmail is apparently not — or at least not yet — is marketer-friendly.

“If you’re a marketer and you’re having deliverability issues, when compared to Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL, Gmail is the most difficult to communicate with and to understand why you, as a legitimate mailer, may be having your mail filtered or blocked,” says Deirdre Baird, chief executive of e-mail deliverability consultancy Pivotal Veracity. “They don’t really have the postmaster group that’s willing to engage with the legitimate mailing community in respect to getting problems resolved.”

However, Baird says, Gmail addresses currently account for small percentages of most marketers’ house files. “They have a long, long way to go before they’re a force to be reckoned with from a commercial mailer standpoint,” she says.

But if Gmail does become a significant percentage of marketers’ house files, “it would be a frightening trend because it’s so difficult to remediate and get problems resolved when you have deliverability issues with Gmail,” says Baird.
KEN MAGILL

DID YOU KNOW?

THE KIDS STILL CARE

Sure, instant messaging and social networks are the communication channels of choice for the 18 to 25-year-old set. But many are highly receptive to permission-based commercial e-mail, according to research from marketing services firm Epsilon. WHAT TYPES OF OPT-IN E-MAIL OFFERS WOULD THEY BE OPEN TO RECEIVING MORE THAN ONCE A DAY?

Strategies/YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

Judging by the sheer number of pitches everyone gets daily from unknown companies shilling shady e-mail lists, it’s safe to say enough marketers are buying these lists to make the fly-by-night firms profitable.

Marketers who buy bad e-mail files risk getting their messages blocked at the ISP level and jeopardize their ability to reach folks who actually asked to get their messages.

HERE’S WHAT EVERY MARKETER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT E-MAIL LISTS:

• No reputable firm sells e-mail lists for perpetual use

  Reputable list owners who put their subscribers up for rent will send offers to them on the renter’s behalf on a one-time basis. Do not ever buy e-mail lists for perpetual use.

• Good e-mail lists are not cheap

  Legitimately sourced consumer e-mail lists average around $80 per thousand names. Don’t buy e-mail data based on price alone. If vendor A is significantly undercutting vendor B, it’s a safe bet vendor A is taking unacceptable shortcuts — for which the marketer who buys the files will pay deeply.

• Bad e-mail lists affect deliverability

  E-mail lists from bad vendors will contain non-existent addresses and spam traps. Also, the legitimate addresses on the file will be held by people who haven’t opted into the marketer’s program, making them more likely to lodge spam complaints. The marketer who hits too many bad addresses and spam traps, or prompts too many spam complaints from recipients, will have deliverability issues.

• Reputable data vendors stand behind their products

  Before doing business with a data vendor, check its Web site. Will it be easy to track down the company and its principals if something goes wrong? A Web site offering no specific information on any company executives is a sure warning sign that the vendor should probably be avoided. A firm that operates out of a P.O. box is another.

• Legitimate data vendors participate in trade shows

  If they’re reputable they’ll want to meet potential customers at industry events. Also, consider whether a vendor appears in the trade press.
  — KEN MAGILL

Got an e-mail tip to share? Contact Ken Magill at [email protected]