One of the earliest critics of AOL’s implementation of Goodmail’s CertifiedEmail system, Return Path CEO Matt Blumberg, is no longer slamming the deal.
Taking part in a Direct Marketing Club of New York panel discussion last night, Blumberg called the ongoing controversy over AOL’s implementation of Goodmail’s scheme “much ado about nothing.”
AOL announced earlier this year that it would implement Goodmail’s CertifiedEmail system and begin charging bulk e-mailers a fraction of a cent per message to have their messages guaranteed to be delivered with graphics and links intact.
At the time of the announcement, Blumberg voiced the criticism of many in the industry, calling the deal a “cynical attempt to get money out of reputable companies that have worked hard to earn the permission of their consumers to send them mail.”
What has happened since to change Blumberg’s mind? AOL has backtracked on its announcement that it would disband its whitelist and Goodmail has clarified that not everyone can pay for entrance into AOL’s subscribers’ inboxes.
“The initial notion was that AOL was forcing you into buying stamps and if you bought those stamps, no matter who you were, you’d end up in the inbox,” said Blumberg. “Those two things would be asking for disaster, but it turns out that is not going to be the case. … There are still going to be organic ways to end up on AOL’s whitelist.
