ICQ Signs With NetCreations

Opt-in email marketing company NetCreations Inc. signed an exclusive two-year agreement with ICQ Inc. to build opt-in email address lists of interested ICQ users who choose to receive targeted messages about products and services of interest.

Internet instant messaging company ICQ, an America Online brand, claims more than 45 million registered users. Financial arrangements between the companies were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, ICQ users will be able to sign up to receive targeted emails from direct marketers about products and services in various categories. NetCreations’ PostMasterDirect.com service will manage the address lists generated by the sign-up forms.

The NetCreations approach to direct marketing includes a double opt-in registration process to ensure ICQ users are choosing to receive targeted email messages from advertisers in self-selected categories.

In addition, an easy opt-out system is in place allowing users to remove themselves from these lists at any time.

“We are delighted to welcome ICQ into our NetCreations Network of third-party Web sites,” said Rosalind Resnick, NetCreations’ president. “According to ICQ, 67 percent of ICQ’s users live outside the U.S., which is a market we have targeted for our own expansion.

NetCreations’ clients conduct email campaigns to targeted consumers using the company’s database of over 4.3 million opt-in email addresses.