Hoping for an anti-spam world

Agency Sales,  Oct 2003  

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Annoyance, frustration and anger are the most common emotions that reps say come to mind when the subject of unwanted e-mail communication is mentioned. You know what we're talking about here - SPAM. It's not the notes and attachments from customers and manufacturers that are expected in the normal course of conducting business. Rather it is the rash of mindless, wasteful, tasteless, undesired communications promising everything from lower interest rates to uncounted riches to enhancement of any number of body parts.

Manufacturers' reps arc hardly alone in their disdain for spam; rather, they are a part of the population that has to weather a storm that appears to have picked up steam.

One rep told us recently that "I've had to add 15 minutes to the beginning of my day each morning just to wade through the spam. I don't know how they've found my address or name, but it's just amazing how much I have to delete each day."

While first admitting spam wasn't a problem, one rep thought a moment and added, "Perhaps the reason I don't consider it a problem is that I've always made it a habit to delete anything from people I don't recognize or if the communication doesn't have anything in the 'subject' line. But now that I think about it, I do get a lot of worthless e-mails each day. And, even if all I do is delete them, it still takes time."

Giving Up the Fight

A third rep who works in a two-person office just threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender and admitted it's "just something we have to learn to live with."

If reps in particular notice any increase in the level of spam transmissions they've been receiving, they're right. According to an article that appeared in USA Today this past summer, unwanted e-mail "clogs the Internet, infuriates consumers and last year cost businesses an estimated $10 billion in lost productivity."

The article, which featured an interview with a high school dropout who spits out 60 to 70 million e-mail ads a day, noted that "an estimated two trillion spam messages are expected this year - more than 300 for every person on the planet. About 90% of it comes from the 150 biggest spammers...."

Independent manufacturers' representatives we interviewed are well aware of the extent of lost productivity as a result of dealing with spam. Several of them are dealing with it with different levels of success, but all voice frustration and wish something could be done about it.

Echoing that wish is Stephen Cobb, senior vice president of research for the ePrivacy Group (www.eprivacygroup.com), a privately held company working to combat spam via its work as a consultant and through the use of innovative products. In an interview with Agency Sales, Cobb notes that businesses and individuals have to be very careful where and how they give out their e-mail addresses. "Sadly, your e-mail address isn't something you can give out wherever you like because at that moment, people will take advantage of you," he explains.

Fighting Off the Bulk Spammers

He continues that the bulk, brute-force spam practitioners will use every combination of letter that they can come up with in order to reach your e-mail address. "It's very difficult to protect yourself. And, one of the worst things you can do with these bulk e-mailers is to respond - even if it's to Opt-out.' When you do that, they know you are a valid address and you'll find yourself on some sort of super spam list."

Cobb goes on to speak on the subject of e-mail or spam filters when he says "If you're large enough, that's something you should look into. The idea behind them is that if you are operating on a large enough network and are getting a great deal of spam, then such filters will pay for themselves."

He adds, however, that there is no perfect solution and not all the spam can be kept out.

"If you are a small business, as most manufacturers' reps agencies are, then something like a McAfee filter or even a filter provided by your ISP can do the trick. Let me give you one word of warning regarding using your ISP's filter, however. You must be sure that the messages you want to come through will, in effect, reach you."

On the other end of the spectrum, Cobb continues, if you're a sender of e-mail, there are some considerations to keep in mind if you want to avoid being labeled as a "spammer." "One thing you want to do," he explains, "is to avoid sending mail to people whose e-mail address you didn't get directly from them. That's really nothing more than common sense. Also, be careful when copying recipients of e-mail correspondence. If sending out multiple copies, be sure to look at your message and be sure you haven't done anything to reveal their address."

The extent of the spam problem was detailed from another corner earlier this year when Microsoft's Bill Gates wrote that "...as everyone struggles to sift spam out of their inboxes, valid messages are sometimes overlooked or deleted, which makes e-mail less reliable as a channel for communication and legitimate e-commerce. Spam is so significant a problem that it threatens to undo much of the good that e-mail has achieved."