AOL
to marketers: Is message getting through?
With more sophisticated spam slamming tools getting
introduced every month, marketers may be wondering if their pitches are
actually reaching people. America Online could help them find out.
Executives at several email marketing firms say America Online has asked
if they would be willing to pay for a premium report service that would
inform bulk senders whether or not email did or didn't make it to users'
inboxes, and why. While AOL declined to comment, officials have said that
its aggressive efforts to fight spam lead it to block up to 80 percent of
incoming mail, and with 24.3 million members at the end of 2003, this is
not exactly an insignificant market. The new service would provide
subscribers statistical information regarding what mail was or was not
delivered and why. Responsys' Lewis says the premier service under
consideration may be a formalization of the type of information some email
marketers have accessed in the past. AOL has erroneously blocked some
legitimate messages, but is now becoming more responsive about helping
marketers get on its white list of qualified mailers whose emails are not
subject to blocking.
MyDoom
sparks boom to anti-virus sites
The MyDoom virus didn’t just threaten Microsoft and knock
out SCO, it scared the average internet surfer. According to Nielsen//NetRatings,
workers flocked to security sites to download anti-virus programs the week
ending Feb. 1. Traffic to Symantec SecurityResponse skyrocketed 176
percent to more than 2.2 million visitors, making it the fastest-growing
site at work during the week. Nearly 2.3 million unique visitors went to
the McAfee site, jumping 86 percent from the previous week. At both sites
the top pages were related to the virus, as users logged on to get more
information about MyDoom and download protective software and removal
tools. Rising from below reporting levels in previous weeks, Trend Micro
drew 418,000 unique visitors. MyDoom became the fastest-spreading virus in
internet history.
Disney
& Microsoft bonded by technology
Two big conglomerates are getting kinda cozy. On Monday,
the Walt Disney Co. and Microsoft Corp. announced a multiyear agreement
for Disney to license Microsoft's Windows Media digital rights management
technology, which protects digital content from being illegally copied or
played. Disney currently licenses its movies for internet rentals using
Movielink, a third-party service that uses technology from Microsoft and
RealNetworks Inc. to write-protect movies and process payments. The
non-exclusive deal is part of Disney's effort to make movies, television
shows and other content available to consumers in digital format,
including on a home network and in the next generation of high-definition
DVDs. Disney also wants its programs available for use on a new generation
of personal media players set to hit the market late this year and next
that would allow people to store movies, personal photos, music and other
digital content on portable devices.
Flood
of Janet-related searches on the net
Janet Jackson’s titillating Super Bowl display
already became the most searched event in Lycos 50 history over a one-day
period, beating out searches the day of the Sept.
11 attacks. After a week, the Jackson incident doesn’t seem to be
slowing down, as searches related to Jackson, the Super Bowl and the
halftime show take up six of the top seven spots on this week's Lycos 50
and received more than three times as many searches as every other item on
the list combined. Searches for Janet Jackson jumped 680 percent from last
week; partner-in-crime Justin Timberlake was searched 35 times more often;
and searches for Drudge Report, the political news/gossip website that
published uncensored photos and video of the incident, jumped 14 times.
The terms “nipplegate” and “wardrobe malfunction,” referring to
the half-time incident, each received as many searches as items 47 and 49
on the Lycos 50. Super Bowl commercials came in at only No. 13 this year,
after earning No. 1 on the Lycos 50 two years ago and No. 9 last year.
Thanks to all the spaces taken up by halftime-related searches, this is
the first time in three years that the Super Bowl champion hasn’t made
the Lycos 50. New England Patriots searches finished 54th on the list.
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