Yucky Spam From Our Competitor

Ewww. Gross.

A direct ClickZ competitor is behind a new wave of soft core spam. No less than three copies of the top example arrived in rapid succession last week at the unique e-mail address I use to subscribe to their list only. Not only is there zero indication of how the sender obtained the e-mail address in the message, but the content is in no way, shape or form appropriate to a B2B online marketing publication. One that runs e-mail marketing events, no less.

Difficult as is was, I resisted the temptation to blog Episodes 1-3. Then today, another example landed in my inbox — promising recipients they can meet the “American Curves Featured Model” and avail themselves of an open Champagne bar for “the ladies”:

OK, so it’s inappropriate content. And renting lists to third-parties (particularly with zero disclosure) is a nasty idea. I decided to check our competitor’s privacy policy. Nowhere does it disclose e-mail addresses will be shared or tented to third parties, or so it appears from this very vague, semi-grammatical excerpt:

“We use this individual company information to deliver member only newsletters, and other service-related purposes only your company contact information is made available to other members in the member directory.”

It’s always a delicate situation to slam a competitor in print. I’m not naming names, but I would caution marketers to be very, very selective when selecting a source for e-mail marketing advice.