Michael Mayor, president of NetCreations, wants direct marketers to agree on what opt-in e-mail really is.
Mayor, who is chairman of the e-mail committee of the Internet Advertising Bureau, has initiated talks on this issue with the Direct Marketing Association, and the e-mail committees of the Association of Interactive Marketing and the Network Advertising Initiative.
“It's very important before any laws get passed to agree on opt-in definitions,” he said. “Permission is going to be part of any legislation.”
Mayor noted that each of these industry trade groups has its own definition committee.
The solution? He has asked the leaders of each group to take the definitions back to their membership for a vote. “If we don't agree, then we will discuss it,” he added. “The purpose is to get consensus.”
The definitions Mayor is presenting to the groups are:
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Double opt-in: A user has elected to receive e-mail newsletters or standalone commercial messages, generally by checking boxes on a sign-up form. A confirmation e-mail is sent to the user to which he/she must reply (either by replying to the message or clicking on a URL contained within) before the list owner may add them to their list.
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Confirmed opt-in: A user has elected to receive e-mail newsletters or standalone commercial messages, generally by checking boxes on a sign-up form. A confirmation e-mail is sent but the user is not required to take further action to be included on the list.
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Single opt-in: A user has elected to receive e-mail newsletters or standalone commercial messages, generally by checking boxes on a sign-up form. No confirmation e-mail is sent and the user is not required to take further action to be included on the list.
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Opt-in: Non-specific term defining “some” form of user consent to receive commercial e-mail.
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Opt-out: A user must actively request not to be included on a list, generally by de-selecting checkboxes on the sign-up form.
NetCreations, an e-mail marketing company and list manager in New York, long advocated a double-opt-in standard. NetCreations' founder Roslyn Resnick claimed to be the first list provider to insist that consumers twice actively consent to being placed on e-mail rental lists.
Currently, 95% of NetCreations' lists are double-opt-in. Mayor said the firm had experimented with single opt-in files, but now encourages clients to double opt-in their customers before they rent their e-mail addresses.
