Extractors and Crawlers and Bulk, Oh My

If these words sound unappealing, they should. They are terms commonly used to describe software that snatches email addresses from all over the Web and sends "UCE" or Unsolicited Commercial Email - better known as spam.

Do any of these offers sound familiar?

• "Buy 10,000,000 email addresses for only $99!"
• "Available for a LIMITED TIME, over 15-20 million FRESH, DELIVERABLE, e-mail addresses on CD-ROM!"
• "Over 130 million addresses plus software to send 600,000 per hour!"

Offers like these usually arrive as spam in your very own inbox. They sound too good to be true, and they are. My advice? Run Toto run!

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too..."

These companies probably found your address by using the same software they are trying to sell to you - a "bulk email extractor" that automatically "harvests" thousands of email addresses by "crawling" classified ad sites, bulletin boards, online discussion groups and Web sites. Then, they use the software to spam everyone on their list with offers like the ones above. The bottom line? They want you to buy their software so you can spam countless others.

Bulk is cheap. Sure, you can send an email to one million individuals for less than you would pay to rent a legitimate opt-in list and in less time than it would take to build your own. But why send an email to one million untargeted, unsuspecting, and most likely uninterested people without their permission?

At a minimum, you will destroy your reputation and lose your credibility; at a maximum, your ISP and/or web-hosting service can and will shut you down. Almost all ISPs have strict prohibitions against spam. So, what do the bulk emailing companies have to say about that? Take a look at the following paraphrased excerpt from one company's FAQ page:

Q: Can I get kicked off my ISP?
A: Yes. Getting kicked off an ISP is no big thing. The cost is usually only $19.95 so it's worth it. Even if you were to get kicked off after sending e-mail for a month, imagine how much e-mail you could send in that time. That would be worth $19.95. In fact, the term "Disposable" or "Throw-away" ISP is very common among bulk e-mailers. This means that you sign up with an ISP with the intention of getting shut down.

In other words, this company wants to help you violate your contract with your ISP or online service provider. Take them up on their offer, and you can join the ranks of the spamming elite including porn sites, pyramid schemes and discount Viagra® vendors!

Due to the Internet abuse perpetuated by companies like this one, similar companies are currently the defendants in numerous lawsuits and are the recipients of countless injunctions. Bulk Emailers, Email Harvesters and Crawlers, UCE and spam are also the subjects of Congressional hearings and pending legislation.

To learn more go to CAUCE, The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, http://www.cauce.org, and MAPS, Mail Abuse Prevention System http://www.mail-abuse.org.

"There's no place like permission. There's no place like permission..."

Bring traffic to your website or business and build your own list of qualified prospects by renting a legitimate permission-based opt-in email list from a trusted third party like PostMasterDirect.com*. Companies like PostMasterDirect.com are reputable companies offering double opt-in email lists where individuals have subscribed to receive messages on particular subjects. With true permission-based email marketing, you can send an email message to an audience targeted by interest category, profession, demographic information and more to drive qualified prospects to your site. Then, allow the recipients to opt-in to your own list to hear from you in the future.

To learn more about collecting email addresses and permission-based email marketing, go to the Email Marketing Hints & Tips Archive!

Issue 1 :: March 17, 2001
A Site Visitor is a Terrible Thing to Waste - Hints and Tips on Building Your Own Opt-in Emailing List.

Issue 2 :: March 30, 2001
Miracle-Gro® for Your Opt-In List - How to get visitors to come to your site in the first place - to make your own list grow faster!

Issue 3 :: April 13, 2001
Permission: Getting It and Using It - Just because you collect an email address, doesn't mean you have really gained permission to use it...

*Note to Constant Contact® users - starting in mid-June, you will be able to rent a PostMasterDirect.com list through your Constant Contact account