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D-ck* Margulis reports: <<When we send out a bulk email message, we comply
with the law by including instructions for the recipient to unsubscribe from
our mailing list. Now I am getting bounce messages from filtering tools that
use the word _unsubscribe_ as a trigger.>>
* Sorry, didn't want to trigger anyone's spam filter. <gdrlh>
That makes a lot of sense, since most spam also includes instructions on how
to be removed from the mailing list, and those instructions are intended for
only one purpose: to confirm that anyone who clicks on the link has a valid
address and is thus a premium target for further marketing. Sad but true.
<<Does anyone have a workaround for this kind of filtering?>>
Don't know about your local laws, but a better way (if legal) might be to
use a double opt-in approach rather than advertisting how to get removed
from the mailing list. In this approach, someone must not only enter their
e-mail address in a subscription form, but also respond to an automatically
generated e-mail sent to that address to confirm that it really was them who
entered the e-mail address. (Keeping records of these transactions is also a
good defence against people who forget that they signed up and later accuse
you of spamming them.) In terms of getting around spam filters, about all
you can do is include your Web address with a heading such as "subscription
manager" and a URL.
<<Of course the bigger issue for us is that some companies automatically
reject _all_ html email>>
Not necessarily a bad thing. HTML e-mail can look appalling in some e-mail
clients, but more seriously, HTML lets you send all kinds of unpleasantness
via e-mail, such as automatically opening graphics that can also be Web bugs
of various sorts.
<<I can't get our marketing types off their html jones>>
Perhaps you can compromise, as follows: Send your newsletter in HTML as a
simple, two line message:
This is to let you know that the Margulis newsletter is now
available at our Web site.
Click here to see the newsletter [URL]
That lets you send a pretty, font-fondled two-line message with a nice
background color, but leaves the newsletter on your site. Those who want it
will follow the URL; those who don't can simply delete it.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
(try ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca if you get no response)
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my
telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my
telephone."--Bjarne Stroustrup (originator of C++ programming language)
