Most Opt-In E-Mail Sent to Web-Based Accounts

A large volume of opt-in commercial email communications are delivered to Web-based email services such as Yahoo and AOL, according to survey results released by Lyris Technologies.

The survey finds 26 percent of American Internet users route opt-in email to Yahoo, 21 percent read marketing communications through Hotmail, and 13 percent use AOL. Work addresses are used to receive marketing messages by only about eight percent of Internet users.

The ability to partition opt-in communications to Web-based accounts is attributed to the “rapid adoption of high-speed Internet access at home and increasing consumer comfort in managing multiple email accounts, each serving a different purpose,” said David Dabbah, director of sales and marketing at Lyris, in a statement.

Maintaining multiple email accounts is common among American Internet users. Thirty percent have one account while 37 percent maintain two accounts. Nineteen percent keep three accounts, and 13 percent manage four or more accounts.

Lyris polled a group of 126 nationally representative respondents based on age, gender and income. The poll was conducted in January of this year.