Silverpop Launches New RSS Solution; Develops First Commercial-Grade Solution for Individualized RSS Content Creation and Distribution

Business Wire, Oct 26, 2005

ATLANTA -- Silverpop announced on CNBC's "Wake Up Call" earlier this week the launch of its new RSSDirect(TM) solution, which gives businesses an unprecedented new way to communicate with their customers.

Silverpop's new RSSDirect product is built on the open technology known as Real Simple Syndication (RSS), the same technology powering the blog revolution. RSSDirect improves on RSS by transforming it from a broadcast, one-to-many communications medium into a targeted, one-to-one marketing channel. It enables users to "pull" individualized content from Web sites to their computer desktops, Web portals and mobile devices.

"Individualized RSS solutions like RSSDirect provide online consumers with the perfect communications tool," said Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop, an email service provider. "It gives consumers complete control over who can communicate with them and they never have to share their email address. And, unlike traditional RSS, RSSDirect lets companies offer highly personalized and relevant communications, dramatically increasing loyalty and satisfaction with their customers."

Nussey said RSSDirect gives consumers control over their communications without sacrificing a company's ability to target, personalize and measure their communications. RSSDirect feeds are next-generation, individualized communications channels that combine the targeting of direct mail, the measurability of email, the timeliness of online communications and the security and deliverability of traditional RSS. Spam-weary consumers get what they want when they want it without giving away their email or postal addresses or their phone numbers. If they decide they no longer wish to receive messages from a company, they need only delete the feed.

RSS is one of the fastest growing new technologies in the world. Its rate of adoption will likely eclipse that of DVDs, cell phones and perhaps even the World Wide Web itself. A recent Yahoo! study shows that while only four percent of US Internet users knowingly use RSS, another 27 percent are using it but are not aware of it. For many Internet users, RSS is already an invisible part of their daily lives. The growth of RSS is expected to further accelerate when Microsoft integrates the technology into its new versions of Windows, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office.

Consumers are expected to embrace RSSDirect and other innovative RSS communications solutions. A JupiterResearch consumer survey in June 2005 found that spam and phishing are real concerns. Fifty-nine percent of online consumers said they would be motivated to provide more information about themselves in exchange for guarantees this information would not be misused. Forty-eight percent said they would buy more products and services online if they had assurances that their personal information and computers were secure.

RSSDirect addresses both of these problems. First, because RSS guarantees the user's permission, unwanted or unsolicited senders can not send messages over RSS. Without unsolicited messages, there is no need for spam filters. Without spam filters, messages are guaranteed to be delivered and reach the recipient 100 percent of the time. Second, RSS is inherently "phish-proof." Phishing occurs when criminals credibly pose as legitimate online businesses and trick users into providing private information like passwords, PINs, and credit card numbers. RSS content is delivered using the same technology as web site pages. And like web pages, it is nearly impossible to spoof or misrepresent the source of the page.

The benefits and uses for RSSDirect are many. For example, an airline could notify customers of fare sales via RSSDirect, personalizing the message for each recipient by highlighting the cost of tickets from his or her hometown airport. Online retailers can ensure that receipts and shipping information are always delivered by avoiding the spam filters associated with email. Department stores can alert customers about sales and special events. The targeting available through RSSDirect can enable national chains that acquire ZIP code information during the registration process to offer information specific to the customer's nearest store. RSSDirect's phish-proof delivery enables companies to once again send out alerts, account updates and critical notifications.

"Email will undoubtedly continue to be the primary communications channel for online relationships - it is too ubiquitous and familiar to lose its prominent position in marketing programs," Nussey said. "But messages sent through individualized RSSDirect feeds can augment online marketing programs with the potential to save companies millions of dollars a year in customer service calls and the fallout from dissatisfied customers."

A recent JupiterResearch study commissioned by Silverpop, titled "The Messaging Innovation Imperative: The Rise of Individualized RSS as Personalized Messaging Medium," stated that marketers that begin to use feed marketing sooner will likely have a competitive advantage over late adopters, and a fair number of marketers realize the multifaceted benefits of implementing RSS.