Spam Revisited

Spam has reared it's ugly head again. I got thinking about it because of a few articles I've noticed on the subject popping up here and there. One side of it concerns spam filtering software ( the reason you keep seeing weird words like FR^E instead of FREE as publishers try to avoid the trap) and secondly it concerns over zealous `spam cops`.

Here's my take on it. I mentioned this briefly in the bonus issue a few days ago :o)

1. No matter how much mail you're receiving please be sure that you didn't request it. Some things that look like spam are really ads or offers from places you've given permission to. Be vigilant when you enter your e-mail into forms or reply to autoresponders. Watch out for terms such as 'Allow carefully selected companies to send you special offers' or similar!

2. It's easy enough to manage your spam by managing your e-mail addresses. Use multiple accounts to make sure important pail goes one place, and junk goes another. Use one address for all those web forms you fill in.

3. Don't use spam filtering software. None of it really works, yet. If you do use it please be sure to allow your e-zines through. For example, mine always begins with the subject NNews: making it easy for you to filter, or unblock, as the case may be.The address will always be netpreneurnow.com, so you can also enable that domain. No-one else uses that domain bar me!

Some mail service, such as HotMail, have an `exclusive` feature where ONLY e-mails and domains authorized by you are allowed through. That's good to have on your primary, private e-mail. Only mail from contacts can come there. Just be sure to add any new correspondents to your address book or you won't get their mail!

4. Now for the mail that is spam. If it has an unsubscribe link, use it. I know that a lot of unsubscribe links are ignored but the majority do work. If there's no link there's not much you can do except delete it. Can you manage to press that little button?

5. A lot of the stuff you find on the internet is free or nearly so because of advertising. If you enjoy an e-zine, and benefit from it, I'm sure that you can manage an extra ad or two? If you don't like the e-zine or perhaps they're a little to overboard with their solos then just unsubscribe. It's totally under your control. Just remember that a e-zine represents a lot of work to the writer at no cost to you, but I'm glad to have you anyway! :oD

6. The only mailings that I would class as spam are those that I never requested, also called UCE (unsolicited commercial email). Some people bend the rules (a lot!) and take the fact that you e-mailed them to be a good reason to e-mail you ads back. I would not call it spam as such but it isn't really good practice. Another type of unwanted e-mail are those that come from services that were only *supposed* to mail you once, but keep doing it. Finally, the worst kind, are those that just take your e-mail from web pages, news groups or whatever then send you mail. That's the only way someone gets your address without you doing anything short of stealing it from another service. Those people who use e-mail scavengers are the kind that deserve the bad press.

6b. But, like anything, there's a grey area there. If I take e-mail addresses of web sites to request a link swap or similar am I spamming? If I use Zeus (which does the same thing) is that
spam? No, because there's no ad involved in those situations. Do not forget the middle word in `Unsolicited Commercial Email`!

7. And those Spam Cops. I've never encountered one, but the things I hear aren't too good. I'd suggest they are a little more
thorough in their investigations and less hasty. Dialogue is much better!

So how do you say safe from a publishers point of view? Newsletters / Ezines should always be opt in. Don't add someone because they posted to your FFA but an `invitation` could be ok. Don't add bulk lists to your autoresponders. Basically, ensure that anyone who gets mail from you has given you permission!

No doubt this debate will go on and on. Spam will get worse, but as long as you can distinguish between Spam and Advertising and take some basic steps with your accounts all should be ok.

--------------------
Stuart Reid is the publisher of Netpreneur News and webmaster of Netpreneur Now! Visit us for weekly tips, reviews, recommendations and more. Sign up for a free ad and 30 free e-books.
mailto:signup@netpreneurnow.com
http://www.netpreneurnow.com/
--------------------

Search Engines and Spam

What is Spam?

Spam (for Search Engines) refers to the use of any illegal technique to improve a page' ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Who decides what 's illegal? The SEs, who else?

Tons of articles have been written about search engines and spam. Why the need for another article? Because, believe it or not, at the end of 2001 MOST of the major search engines are still vulnerable to MANY unethical techniques used by malicious Webmasters.

Spam has been known for a long time. For years, Webmasters tried to cheat the search engines. Today, many SEs say they know all the tricks and penalize those pages. As you will see, most SEs only SAY that they will punish spammers, but in fact they DON'T.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization, Placement, Positioning, Ranking, or whatever you want to call it, is the process of designing a Web page that can be easily indexed by the SEs and receive high rankings in the SERPs.

My Experience with Search Engines

Recently, using some major U.S. SEs, I made a search for a Web design company in New York. Let me to share with you my highly disappointing experience.

The search engine results pages (SERPs) in most of the search engines were full of Web pages that used one or more spamming techniques. The most frequently encountered illegal strategies used by many SEs were:

Keyword stuffing
Page redirect
Mirror domains

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is the adding of many relevant, sometimes irrelevant, words in the:

Keywords META tag

One of the criteria some search engines use to rank pages in the results list is the presence of relevant words in the Keywords META tag. From use to abuse is a little step, so some webmasters place many words, repeating them many times in the hope that the page will rank higher. The record was a page that had 1,150 words (no mistake, WORDS not characters) in the Keyword Meta tag. The word "design" was repeated 209 times. Unbelievable, right?
What are Search Engines' positions regarding this spamming technique? One of the Web's most important Search Engine, in their submission guidelines, states that it will "exclude submissions" with "excessive keywords". It looks like 1,150 words are not "excessive" enough, because THAT SE and many others index the page.

Besides stuffing words in the Keywords META tags, some Webmasters also add lots of words in the:

Visible page

Another criteria some search engines rank sites in the results list is the so-called "word frequency": the more times a word is repeated in the content of a page, the higher are the chances it will be near the top in the results list.

Some Webmasters often abuse these criteria by placing words or phrases- most of the times- at the bottom of the page, many, MANY times. Do you recall the site that has 1,150 words in the Keywords Meta tags? Well, the same site just "copied and pasted" those words in the copy of the page.

You might think that it's weird to see a bunch of words inserted in the page. Well, Webmasters have found two methods to work around this problem: "tiny text" and "hidden- or invisible- text". "Tiny text" means that the Webmaster places the text in a very small size, most of the time hardly legible. "Invisible text" means the use of the same color for text AND for background, so users will NOT see the words but SE's spider WILL see, so the page will rank higher that it deserves.

The Search Engines' position regarding this spamming technique? One of the Web's most important Search Engine, in its guidelines writes: "We must sometimes exclude submissions" of "pages with text that is not easily read, either because it is too small or is obscured by the background of the page". Another SE's will "significantly downgrade a page's ranking" ... "if words cannot be read due to their small size or color".

Despite these statements, both SEs, as well as other SEs, index pages with text in the same color as the background. To illustrate the total lack of respect for users with little fear for SEs, one Web page has a whopping 936 words in BLACK text on a WHITE background. Incredible!

Page Redirect

One page can be redirected either by using the "refresh" META tag or using cloaking techniques. Why the need to redirect a page? One of the legitimate reasons to redirect a page is having a new URL for the site. But some Webmasters abuse page redirection to obtain higher rankings for their pages.

How does it works?

Using the "refresh" META tag:

This technique consists in building 2 pages: one, highly "optimized" - read "spammed"- with many, MANY words in the KW and Description META tag and also in the Title tag. Most of the time the copy of the page is also highly "optimized" with KW stuffing- many times with invisible text.

These pages called: "Doorways Pages", "Gateway", "Entry" or "Bridge" pages most of the time display a "Click here to enter the site" or simply "Enter" or sometimes "select Flash or HTML" message on the entire page. Using the "refresh" META tag the Webmaster will "redirect" the user to a second page, which will appear after a determined number of seconds after seeing the first page. If the time is set to "0" (zero) seconds, the viewer will NOT see the first page, but directly the second one.

Why two pages? The first one shown to SEs as highly "optimized" will help the page rank very high in the SERPSs, by cheating the SEs. The second one is "nicer", not too much spam, a good page for viewers.

Cloaking technique is probably the most controversial spamming technique.

It also uses 2 pages, one for the SE and another for the viewer. The big difference between this technique and the one above is that in the first case it is possible to see the code of the first page (shown to SEs), but in the second case it is not.

Hiding the Meta data (especially keywords) in the code can provide a huge advantage in this current highly competitive market, as there are known cases of Webmasters that stole a competitor's keywords in an attempt to rank higher.

What are search engines' positions regarding redirecting? Do not submit any site with an address that redirects to another address" or "Your site cannot mirror or redirect to another Web site" or we "may permanently ban from our index any sites or authors who engage in cloaking to distort their search rankings" or simply: "Don't cloak".

Pretty clear, right? Then why some Webmasters insist in using cloaking techniques? To hide their pages' code from prying eyes. Bad guys are not afraid to spam- most of the time, SEs only SAY: "don't do that". If you do, there will be NO- or sometimes very little- punishment.

Mirror domains

Consists in building hundreds or even thousands of pages with SAME content but with altogether DIFFERENT URLs (Web addresses). The advantage is clear: by finding the "right" tricks to cheat the SE algorithm one can "dominate" the SERPSs with pages one after another. One company had 62 pages in the Top 100 results list.

What are the search engines positions regarding this spamming technique? "Do not submit mirror sites". "Your site cannot mirror or redirect to another Web site". "Do not submit" . . . "the same pages from multiple domains". But in practice most of the SEs are vulnerable to this technique.

Questions for:

Search Engines

When are you going to be SERIOUS about your job?

When will you PUNISH the spammers? Have CLEAN indexes? It is not difficult. A dialog with the Webmasters community might result in opinions such as THIS ( http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/830.htm ) one:

"I can't understand why the search engines aren't professional enough to put their anti-spam efforts into a detailed agreement and have anyone that wants to be listed sign their agreement. Such an agreement would spell out very clearly what is and what isn't allowed. Anyone breaking the rules would be subject to specific penalties or banning, but would be notified and have a chance to fix the problem especially if the infraction was not too serious".

Clear enough?

Why do you accept advertising from sites which use spamming techniques? So, if a page cannot achieve high rankings, for few buck it becomes "featured" site or listing and voil!, on the top of the list. Is this the latest trick for a poor site to be listed high? Now, on one hand, in your guidelines you tell Webmasters not to spam, on the other hand, if a spammer PAYS, that's no problem. Good bye relevancy, hello profits! Here is a comment by a high-ranking official from a major SE: "the more we take payment for listings, the more you'll get great results" Excuse me? "Big" pockets' sites are NOT always more relevant than "poor" pockets' sites.

I know I'm not the first ( http://www.commercialalert.org/releases/searchenginerel.html ) one to ask but, when are you going to make a CLEAR distinction between paid listings and real results? The user needs to make an informed decision. The user needs to be helped, not confused.

Webmasters

Why use techniques seen by the SEs as spam? Why take the risk of having pages penalized, or even permanently banned, from indexes? Two months of glory, then a new domain, blacklisted again- poor way to market any business.

Think it's impossible to get higher rankings WITHOUT using spam? My answer is NO. Do your homework, read thoroughly and abide to SEs guidelines, cross your fingers and you'll be # 1.

Have you ever seen one of your page's ranking lower than a page which uses spamming techniques? I bet you did. Now, how did you react? Did you report it to the SE or you said "nah, that's no use anyway"? Or perhaps you thought it's not nice to turn in the Webmaster. OK, let me ask you something: would you like, that while waiting in line to buy a ticket to a movie, somebody, who comes AFTER you, go in the front and buy a ticket BEFORE you do?

Or perhaps THIS ( http://www.globalserve.net/~iwb/search_engine/spamdex.html ) is the solution?

A site will be nominated and posted on a listserv which any member can second then the offender will be notified of his conviction by the spamdex police. They will have a week to clean it up and re-submit and remove the offending listing from the search engines. After a week the offender will be reported to the search engines. The search engines will have a month to act or they will be added to the list as an accomplice to the activity.

Huh? What do you think?

Site Owners

When are you going to wake up? What am I talking about? Well, I'm taking about a report, which says, "nearly 46 percent of the marketers surveyed said they allocate less than 0.5 percent of their annual marketing budgets on search engine optimization (SEO) services". Now, read it again, and again.

So, you spend 95,5 % on gizmos such as Flash and Java Scripts and less than 1% for SEO. Let me tell you something: bells and whistles will never help a page rank high in SERPs. NEVER. I fact it will work against.

Which are your rankings, by the way? When was the last time you checked, if ever? Are you in the Top 30 results for your strategic keywords when the user runs a search? You're not? Practically you don't exist for your prospects. Still wonder why so many .com CLOSE? Are you going to be next?

Do you need a Ph.D. to realize that the SEO- your Web site "salesman"- is more necessary than ever? One of these days you'll discover the power of search engine marketing: the cheapest yet most effective way to promote your site to more than 300 million prospects. Bright future for SEO.
I can see a bright future for the SEO, don't you?

When are you going to understand that SEOs is NOT only optimizing the Keyword Meta Tag? SEO is a highly specialized, time-consuming and sometimes expensive but absolutely NECESSARY task. It's both an art and a science to position a Web page near the top in SERPs. So, forget about your in-house SEO "expert", shop around and find a reputable SEO firm or consultant.

Dos and don'ts when you talk to the SEO guy:

If a Web Marketer suggest you to get rid of that flashy or framed Home Page, just DO IT! Or, don't blame HIM for the consequences. If a SEO says something about cloaking and doorways, run, and I mean it.
Don't even think telling a SEOs, that you'll pay him, AFTER the pages show up in the search engines. Enough said. Don't be a kid by asking him to GUARANTEE you Top 10 positions! No honest SEO will do it. The only think a SEO can guarantee is an increase of the number of pages indexed and an increase of the current rankings. With some luck your sales will sky rocket.

Last thing: please, avoid those submission tools and their hype: "submit your site to 500,000 SEs for $24.95". Submit your Web site by hand. Period.

IN CONCLUSION:

Since the summer of 1995, when I worked for the first time with a Search Engine, I saw some SEs disappearing, and lots of new SEs appearing.

Competition is good, but users might be confused with thousands of SEs. Besides, not everybody knows sophisticated searching techniques such as the Boolean operators, so there is a lot of frustration out there. If we add the irrelevancy of the results in most of the SEs, we have a pretty sad picture.

A clean index should be the main priority for any search Engine. If a SE gives irrelevant results, the user will switch to another SE. Can a SE afford loosing users in the todays' fierce competition between SEs? I don't think so.

To wrap up, I am not saying here that ALL the Search Engines are vulnerable to ALL the known spamming techniques. All I say is that MOST of the Search Engines are vulnerable to MOST of the bad tricks.

I also believe that is NOT important to list WHICH SEs are vulnerable to WHICH spamming techniques or WHICH sites spam WHICH SEs. The important thing is it STILL happens.

At not only in the American SEs. I've checked also Spanish, German, French and Italian SEs. Less spam, but still there.

From now on, monthly I'll make an update of this article. I can only hope that one day I can say "everything is fine". Be back!

Daniel Bazac is the Web Marketer for Web Design in New York, a design, redesign and promotion company. He's specializing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). He's been online from 1995 and he's also a professional Internet Information Researcher. You may contact Daniel Bazac at mailto:danielbazac@hotmail.com or visit his Web site: http://www.web-design-in-new-york.com/

Online Marketing: SPAM / Mass-Email Marketing

Online Marketing: SPAM / Mass-Email Marketing By Aaron Turpen of Aaronz WebWorkz

I'm undoubtedly broaching the most controversial subject for Internet marketing. The title of this article shows the fine line between a morally criminal way of thinking and a viable and useful marketing tool. Sending SPAM (officially called UCE or Unsolicited Commercial Email) is wrong - I will go into the reasons for this later. However, sending commercial email for advertising is an effective and low-cost way to market your business or products.

Email marketing will probably be around for as long as the Internet is alive and supports email protocols (or any similar type of communication). Contrary to what some would say, it also has its place. Advertising is a form of communication. However, just like any other form of advertising, there are rules governing this medium as well.

No matter what country you live in, some sort of free speech law probably governs you. No matter which country you're in, however, that free speech law does not give you the right to take over the local newspaper and force them to print whatever you want printed on the front page because of your right to free speech. They are under no obligation to pay for your free speech. The same applies to the Internet. With email, the people receiving the email or that person's ISP (and most likely several others along the way) are flipping the bill for your message. This is akin to walking into the newspaper and demanding they print your words for free.

In addition to all of these moral issues, there are legal ones to consider as well. There are several laws governing the way that you are allowed to advertise anything anywhere in the United States and elsewhere. Since government is just a large committee of people making decisions (in most places), it is always one step behind when it comes to technology under the law. However, since the Internet is really just a large cooperative of commercial and private networks, it is a little more dynamic in its dealings with "perpetrators." One network can effectively ban whomever they deem a miscreant and others will eventually follow suit as the offender moves through the different networks to try and bypass the blockage.

With all of the hype and hysteria surrounding the use of email as a marketing tool, why do people continue to use it? Well...because it's effective. People wouldn't spend the money to send junk mail through the post if it wasn't effective and they wouldn't spend millions on a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl if it weren't effective as well. If you follow some simple guidelines and use the email marketing tool wisely, you can reap great rewards.

If you are selling a product or service which rarely leads to residual sales to the same person or entity (i.e. they buy it once and will probably never ask for it again - coffins are a good example), then you can use email marketing effectively. Why? Because you aren't building a business name (aka "branding" your business) or consumer trust. You are just making one-time contacts and make more money by contacting en masse instead of by specifically targeting customers. You aren't building lasting relationships through your business.

There is nothing wrong with this business approach. For some types of businesses, it is just a fact of life. Customers don't need your product or service more than once. There are still some rules of etiquette which you should use when email advertising, however. Your incentive for following them? Less negative feedback and possibly higher return on your sales: more respect = better chances of success.

The first rule to follow is to make sure that yourself or the company you're paying to send out the emails includes a short note to the recipient that explains where their email came from. A hyperlink will suffice for this if you don't personalize your mails from a database. Make sure that you include the EXACT location they used to sign up for whatever list they are on. Not only does this give them a way to get off of that list, it also serves as a reminder as to how they signed up to receive your emails in the first place. If they opt-out of the list, then you're better off for having an unresponsive customer off of your list. Win-win.

If you're purchasing your list from someone else, get all of the information before you buy. Where did the list come from? How were the addresses culled? How targeted is this list to your expected market? Has anyone else used this list before? What is their guarantee as to the validity of the emails on the list? Some of these questions make sense from a marketing and business standpoint as well as a moral one.

The next step is choosing how to convey your message inside the email. If you visit www.scambusters.org, you'll see a huge list of Internet scams in all categories of "business." Everything from buying swampland in Florida to sending used credit cards to be used as paint scrapers instead of "filling landfills with environmentally nasty plastic" - yes this con has actually been used. Why do I bring up these scams? Because most of them have been perpetrated using unsolicited email at one time or another. Make sure your sales letter/email doesn't sound like one of them. Nothing enrages SPAM-conscious email readers more than a get-rich-quick scheme or any other senseless hype.

My next piece of advice is for you to get to the point. Whether you're sending email advertising using text email, HTML, or even Flash-embedded email to get the user's attention, KEEP that attention. Don't waste their time babbling on. Get to the point of your letter. You don't have to be blunt or unimaginative, but don't write a treatise on your great product either. People don't want you to waste their time. Some people pay for their online time by the minute, others are busy working or running a business, while still others may be hogging up the family phone to get to their email.

Everyone on the Internet has received one form of SPAM or another. The best rule you can follow is: if you received your email, would you respond to it? Would you really care about the product? Why not test this theory? Open up a free web-based email account somewhere and send your email to a test group - people you know personally and who won't hang you for using them this way-of five or ten people. Then wait a couple of days and ask them if they got an email about such-and-such product. If they remember getting that email, you're doing a good job. If they remember it and are mad or have bad things to say about it, then you need to rethink your strategy. At this point you can let them in on your scientific prodding. Be prepared to duck and run at this point.

In closing, I hope that this series of articles has been useful in some way. Remember that marketing is 80% of your business. Also remember that proper marketing, using both imagination and ethics, can carry you further and can help solidify your business better than anything else ever will.

=====
Aaron Turpen is the proprieter of Aaronz WebWorkz, a full- service provider of Web needs to small businesses. www.AaronzWebWorkz.com

Enough is enough, Anti Spam is going to far?

Ok before entering into this argument I will say that some form of spam control is needed and understandable. I am intolerant of unsolicited e-mail as I think are most people. However, I think the time has come for the Internet Industry to take a lead in this.

It is rather ridiculous, for example that certain States in the US have one set of strict legislation while others have less. This is particularly the case from my perspective in Australia where that legislation has no power over me in any case.

The thing we all have to accept is that the Internet is a global tool. It is no longer owned nor controlled by a single country. Hence the way to deal with spam is by Industry Control not legislation. However this control must work both ways.

Although many spam complaints are real and should never happen and need to be dealt with there are a significant number that are not really spam. If you loose your domain or ISP due to a false complaint you are going to feel trodden on, accused of a ?crime? you did not commit. There needs to be an alternative.

The concept of ?guilty upon demand?, which is effectively how a spam complaint works, is a concept foreign to the laws and beliefs of countries like the USA and Australia. However I will label it as it is, its fascist. Basically a ?right wing? opponent to receiving e-mail (that they most likely did request) has put in a complaint to the ISP and the Line Provider.

The ISP is so fearful of the potential damage if the Line Provider cancels their connection that they terminate the account of the person accused of spam. That this person actually did anything wrong is irrelevant. It also has virtually no grounds for review. I was always told that the USA prides itself on certain freedoms, as does Australia. Somehow these freedoms have been lost on the Internet.

So what is the way forward? The Internet Industry must come up with a set of policies that are equally enforced across the Internet, by all ISP?s and the Line Providers. These rules need to be fair. Based on the principles of law where you are innocent until proven guilty, not guilty wether you can prove otherwise or not.

The Lighter Side of Spam

Every morning when sit down at the ole computer and go to check my email I know two things will happen. (1) I won't have received any new sign-ups in any of the hundreds of affiliate programs that 'guaranteed' me a massive downline and (2) I will have at least 30 emails that are unsolicited or SPAM.

As an experienced 'Interneter' (definition: One who spends way too much time on the internet) I know that the lack of sign-ups may change. One morning I may awaken to 30 new affiliates in each of my programs. Or at least that's what my guru friends keep telling me... The SPAM however, 'ain't goin' nowhere.' It's just become a fact of internet life. 'He Who Hath Email, Will Get SPAM.'

I personally use the Delete-It-And-Forget-About-It Method to deal with SPAM. This time tested method has three basic steps:

1. Select the 'suspected' spam email

(Note: I use the term suspected because according the Internet Law Code Title 12 Chapter 15 Subtitle 3 'All spam is innocent until proven guilty by a jury of it's peers, or until it emails a virus to your whole address book.)'

2. Hit the 'Delete' button

3. Move on to the next email

This highly complicated method for dealing with SPAM is not, I have found, for everyone. There are some people who feel that this method lets spammers off too easily.
These are people who feel very strongly about SPAM. They don't just dislike SPAM, they DESPISE it. I'm talking about the kind of people who, judging by their actions, must be allergic to SPAM.

These kind of people prefer the I'm-Going-To-Get-You-If-It's-The-Last-Thing-I-Do-Online Method. This method involves any or all of the following steps:

1. Quitting your day job so you can have more time to write nasty replies to all the emails that you get that you don't remember requesting.

2. Doing an exhaustive 30 hour online search for a suspected spammers IP address so you can report them to their ISP. And their hosting services. And their mother.

4. Attempting to get in touch with Tom Ridge, newly appointed Director of Homeland Security, because you think spamming is a form of terrorism.

5. Showing up at suspected spammers front door at 3 AM wielding an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing only WWJD bandana and a mousepad, and shouting, "If I want Spam I'll buy a can" between gunshots.

However you deal with SPAM is of course your business. I, by nature, am a passive person (by passive I mean lazy) so SPAM doesn't usually annoy me to the point where I feel the need to take action. I will admit that occasionally though SPAM does get me a little angry. Like when I open my inbox and see that of the 25 unread emails I have, 20 have subject lines like:

* Let Me Show You How To Make An Extra $5000 An Hour Selling Squid!

* Hot Blonde Men Want You!

* Congratulations You've Won An All Expense Paid Trip To Uzbekistan

* Do You Know What You're Children Are Doing Online?

(A quick note to all spammers: If you are going to illegally fill my inbox with SPAM at least be kind enough to send me something that might interest me. SPAM about children does not interest me in the slightest bit seeing as I have none. And if I did have kids I wouldn't care what they did online as long as they stayed quiet and left me alone. Thanks.

* Become A Catholic Priest In Two Short Weeks

* Here Is The Information You Requested On Llama Breeding

These are just a sample of some of the subject lines that I have seen in my inbox. I assume they were SPAM since I don't remember every requesting any information about any of those subjects. Although the one about selling squid did seem interesting. Which brings me to a question.
If you know that an email is SPAM but the subject line is just sooo darn catchy, is it wrong to open the email? Do I become an accessory to spamming? Am I aiding and abetting known spammers? I sure hope not because truthfully every now and then I open an email that I know is SPAM just to see what it's about. It's just that some of those spammers
have gotten so good with their subject lines that I just can't help myself. For instance I'm GOING to open emails with subject lines like:

* Free Fried Chicken For Life

* Fast Hemorrhoid Relief

* Drink ALL You Want And Never Get Drunk

* Drew Barrymore and Tara Banks Want To Meet You

(Another quick note to spammers: If you were the online law breaker who sent me the unsolicited email about Drew and Tara could you please send it to me again. I think I accidentally deleted it.
Thanks. P.S. If you have anything about Angelina Jolie send that too.)

* Even Faster Hemorrhoid Relief

* Stop Premature Balding

* Legally Get Back All The Money You've Ever Blown On Women

There are some of you who probably think it's deplorable that I admit to reading emails that I know are SPAM. You probably think that people like me are the reason spammers keep spamming. You probably think I'm just as bad as the spammers. You're probably trying to figure out who my ISP is at this very moment so you can report me. All I can say in my defense is: I'm only human. And I only do it on weekends.

In conclusion, even though I've poked fun at anti-spammers in this article, I do feel that spamming is wrong and illegal. My purpose in writing this article was just to bring a little
humor to the otherwise ever-so-serious SPAM table. Whether you're an avid anti-spammer and a card-carrying member of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email or a lazy
Delete-It-And-Forget-About-It slacker like me, you'll probably agree that spammers need to stopped. Anyone caught spamming should be punished. And I know the ideal punishment. They
should be forced to clean my house and keep my llamas fed while I'm on my 2 month vacation in Uzbekistan with Drew Barrymore, eating fried chicken-hemorrhoid free.

*************************************************
*************************************************
The Internet is far too serious these days. You need a break from all the gurus and money-making schemes and paid email ads. You also need a new car, a babysitter for Wednesday night, and a good plumber. Unfortunately, I can only help you with the Internet stuff. Visit me at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onlinejester
to join my mailing list so you can receive more entertaining articles that poke fun at all things Internet. *************************************************
*************************************************

Tim Ward, the self-proclaimed Online Jester, writes a monthly column that takes a warped look at the World Wide Web. This column is published in his ezine, The Online Jester's Ezine. To find out more visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onlinejester/

Avoiding Spam, Scams and Computer Viruses

One of the most popular pages on about-the-web.com is about
avoiding scams, hoaxes and urban legends on the Internet
(http://about-the-web.com/shtml/scams.shtml). Here are a
few ways to avoid some of the perils associated with being
connected to the rest of the world.

As a general rule of thumb, beware of any offer that sounds
too good to be true. This applies to products being offered
on the Internet and especially to any unsolicited offer or
spam you receive in your email. Many of these are scams.

The term "spam", in case you don't know, refers to any
unsolicited bulk email. If it's not addressed to you, or
you don't recognize the sender, or you're being asked to
buy something or pass along questionable information, then
that's spam. My advise is to "can the spam" by immediately
deleting any email you receive from anyone you don't know.

The best way to avoid spam, is to be very careful about who
you give your email address to. My advise here is to set up
a free email account and to give this email address to
anyone you don't absolutely trust with your personal
information. It almost never does any good to fight back
against spam. Your best course of action is just to delete
any unwanted email.

A trick that has been pretty successful for me is to set up
an email rule (or filter) that automatically sends any mail
not addressed to me to a special folder. Most of this is
spam and can be easily disposed of.

In addition to spams and scams, the other thing to watch
out for on the Internet is hoaxes, urban legends and false
information. There are many of these floating around the
Internet these days. Beware of any email that asks you to
send money for any cause, or to forward the email to all
your friends. Almost all of these are hoaxes. An excellent
resource for information on hoaxes, urban legends and false
information is http://urbanlegends.about.com/index.htm

Another category of hoaxes involves virus warnings. If you
receive information that indicates you can get a computer
virus from doing anything except opening an email
attachment or running an application, then this is probably
false information.

Most computer viruses are spread by users opening email
attachments that contain the virus. NEVER OPEN AN EMAIL
ATTACHMENT THAT YOU ARE NOT EXPECTING. Even if you know
the sender, make sure the attachment is legitimate before
opening it. It is much safer to delete any questionable
attachments and ask the sender to resend them than to
assume that the sender intended to send that email.

Your best defenses against computer viruses are: 1) caution
in downloading programs from questionable sources,
2) regularly scanning your drive with virus protection
software, and 3) backing up all your important data to a
different drive or media (floppy, Zip or CD-ROM) as soon as
possible. By doing all of these, if your system does get
infected, you can restore it with a minimum of hassle.

Always check out any offer or information you receive
before sending any money or forwarding the information
to someone else. That way you can rest easy knowing you
aren't getting scammed or passing along an urban legend.

Garth Catterall-Heart
About-the-web.com is an Internet Guide for new users to the
Internet. Learn about browsers, e-mail programs, search
engines, making money, avoiding scams, creating and
promoting web sites, and some simple tips for a better web
surfing experience at http://www.about-the-web.com

Good Spam or Bad Spam - What's the Difference?

"Are you good spam or bad spam?" This is the question I find echoing in my head sometimes when I am going through my email, as if it is part of some electronic Wizard of Oz. Have you ever given any thought to the fact that there really is a difference in spam? Not that I am defending anyone, but let me make my point and then you can decide for yourself.

Spam is such a hot issue and no one knows the "right" view of spam that fits everyone. You either: - will take all measures to prevent people from sending it to you - don't mind it at all and happily delete, delete, delete every day - OR hate it sometimes and ignore it other times.

I think I fall in the last category, which is what started me thinking about good and bad spam. My point of view has now developed into this:

BAD Spam-
-It is bad spam when you reply to it to be removed and it is returned to you because the address is made up. -It is bad spam when the removal link does not open a real url. -It is bad spam when you paste the message source into Spam Cop and the info you get back before clicking the "Send spam report" shows tons of dead ends and made up domains, etc.

This means that this "Cowardly Lion" harvested your address, and went to great lengths to cover their tracks in order not to get caught sending spam.

GOOD Spam-
-It is good spam when there is an actual person on the other end, apologizing for inconveniencing you.

What made it good spam? Because here is spam that you most likely will not get again, because it is more legit then the bad spam. These people are not out to break any rules, upset anyone, or ruin your day. 9 times out of 10 they really don't know any better and will learn, very quickly I might add.

Also, keep in mind that the Scarecrow in us does not ALWAYS remember every email we sign up for. It is possible to have signed up for something and a week later be flipping out because you are getting email from some unknown. If we only had a brain sometimes (Speaking for myself, of course).

It is also highly possible that someone is having fun subscribing you to things. Never count that one out, it happens all of the time.

GOOD vs BAD
Personally, I would much rather get NO spam, however if I had to choose, I would have to go with good spam. Bad spam demonstrates that the sender KNOWS what is NOT acceptable and went to all of this trouble and expense to hide behind this long trail of fake addresses. These are malicious acts, and down right dirty. Do they really think that what they are trying to sell in this manner is actually worth it? These are the people we should be upset with. These are the people that we need to be telling, "I'll get you my pretty, and your little server too!"

So, whether you agree or disagree, just try to keep in mind that -1. The whole world is not out to get you. -2. Not every piece of spam is sent with the same intent. And... -3. As the world around us continues to change, we will be seeing more and more companies resorting to sending their junk mail through email rather then the post office. (I think this is becoming a more desirable thing to us all, as it would be much safer, take less effort to get rid of, & is better for the environment.)

Now is the time to try to adjust our view and approach the issue with a level head. If we don't we will drive ourselves mad, and for what purpose? The changes in our world cause the internet to change. Soon you probably will find yourself saying, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore".

Sara Hardy
Publisher of The OnLine Exchange Ezine. We have been in circulation for over 3 years, with over 28,000 faithful subscribers. Go here to subscribe: http://marketingtrendz.com and start your FREE Membership to our Profit Zone, giving you unlimited access to FREE marketing tools, ebooks, resources and more!

"Where is My Spam"Wonder Wyant

Boy, I must be really new to the Internet! Everyone keeps talking about all the canned meat they're getting and I'm hardly getting fed over here.

I do get some, but I'm sure not getting fat on it. I receive a couple of hundred or so emails a day so I'm not surprised that I get a few offers for credit cards I don't need and junk I'm not going to buy.

Although I probably average only a dozen or so letters a day in the big metal box at the end of the drive,some days more that half of that mail is junkmail.

While I find basically none of this junkmail useful to me, the electronic spam is much easier to deal with. I'm brand new to email and I still know at least three ways to hit delete! And, if need be, I can let my ISP gobble it up.

Since I live in the country and I no longer have to pay the garbage man to haul away the paper junkmail, I don't even resent that as I once did. In fact, I hear that I have a neighbor who actually solicits the stuff as he heats his house with it. An idea, I suppose?

I can almost hear you saying "Wait a minute! You said you get hundreds of emails a day." Yes, indeed I do. I would say that 96% of them are from ezines that I've subcribed to, offers I asked for more information about or email courses I wanted.

In my 3 months on the Internet, I've subscribed to over 400 ezines. Am I nuts, as an ezine editor friend of mine implied? No, I'm out here to get information. The only way to do that is to go to where the source is. Many ezines are wonderful sources of a wide variety of information.

Unfortunately, I've found that not all ezines are entertaining or informative. Do I read them all? Yes, I do, to a point. I use an automatic 'shelving' system in Outlook Express for my ezines.

I have a folder named 'Ezines' and inside that I have many subfolders.

When I read my first issue of an ezine, if I am instantly totally impressed, I set up a subfolder for that ezine and a message rule that puts every issue in that folder. I generally eagerly read them as soon as I see I have unopened mail in that folder. If I find later that I am not enjoying that ezine as much, I move the whole folder to another catagory or I unsubscribe and delete the folder.

I also have a subfolder called 'Checking Out'. If I am not totally enamored with the ezine, it goes into a subfolder in that file. I have these labeled: 'Daily's", 'Weekly's' and 'Monthly's. I add the from address to the appropriate message rule and those ezines go to their folders.

I read the 'Checking Out' ezines as time allows. Very often, by the second or third issue, the ezine has graduated it its own folder. I sort by name and read the 'Daily's' more often that the others but I do at least scan them all.

If I have received 5 or 6 issues of an ezine and it still remains in my just looking folder, I am not very interested in that ezine. I unsubscribe. Ezine editors might want to note that, when they send me 4 or more 'solos' in a day, I am probably only seeing one real issue of their ezine when I'm trying to decide if I want to remain subscribed.

I have to admit that I've recently added a new subfolder called 'Free Ad Subs'. Yep, you guessed it, stuff I don't read unless have extra time or I need an ad code. I will stay subscribed though until I figure out a better way to market.

I don't know, maybe I'm just too new out here to know what canned meat is.

If you'd like some helpful hints on how to manage 400+ ezines in your mailbox, send for my free helpful article "Manage Your E-mail" mailto:wonderclass1@GetResponse.com.

Wonder Wyant is a retired carny and the editor of "Geeks, Freaks and Bamboozles" a new ezine about both the carnival she retired from and the one she retired to. To get in prelaunch, mailto:wonderwyant@hotmail.com. You can check out her newest 'teddybear' at http://100PercentProfit.cjb.net.

SPAM: Are you taking the Asterisk*?

SP*M is the scourge of the Internet. Everyone hates SP*M. Even SPA*MERS hate SP*M!

For the average email user it's an annoyance. But for the
Internet marketer it represents a serious threat. If you're
sending ezines, autoresponder messages or solo ads as a means of building your business, then there's every chance that between 10% and 50% of your recipients never get your email.

It's the SP*M blockers you see.

More and more email users have installed SP*M blockers to
prevent all the thrash from ever reaching their inbox. Likewise,
an ever-increasing number of ISPs use similar technology to
protect their users.

This represents a serious challenge to the legitimite marketer
who's sending legitimite emails to legitimite opt-in recipients.

It's gotten to the point where I can't even spell the word SP*M
in this article for fear it never reaches you. I should also
avoid words like FR*E or M*NEY or OPP*RTUNITY or even something apparently harmless like CLICK BEL*W!!

In fact, there's so many things that will clock up points on the
SP*M blocker's index, that it's getting near impossible for us
to write anything in our emails. (If you're interested, you can
see an extensive list of the kind of stuff that will earn you
SP*MMER points at http://spamassassin.org/tests.html).

So what can you do to get around this problem?

Simple. You've got to determine whether the emails you send out are going to pass the SP*M blockers criteria or not.

Here's how to do it without spending a penny...

1. Download and install Eudora email software from http://eudora.com (it's FR*E!).

2. Download and install Spamnix from http://www.spamnix.com
(the FR*E version is fine).

3. Set up one of your existing email accounts in Eudora or
create a new one especially for the purposes of testing your
mails.

4. Every time you have an email ready to send to your opt-in
subscribers, send a test copy to your email account in Eudora
first. Spamnix will examine the mail and, if it looks like SP*M,
it will filter it into a special folder it creates to handle
this kind of thing. Spamnix will also tag a report on to the
bottom of the message that shows you exactly what's wrong with your email to earn it such a poor reputation.

Now, all you have to do is tweak your message according to the Spamnix report and try again. Keep doing this until Spamnix no longer considers you a dirty rotten SP*MMER.

Because Spamnix uses the same criteria as just about every other SP*M blocking software, you can now be quite certain that your email will reach its intended recipients.

So, don't let those SP*MMERS drive you out of business. Take
action today to ensure that their dodgy business practices are
not costing you dearly.

And with that I've got to sign off... I've just received a H*T
offer on how to make L*ADS of M*NEY selling VI*GRA to people with M*RTGAGES who W*RK from H*ME to pay off their CR*DIT C*RD B*LLS!

Or something.

Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications.
Visit now to download original ebooks for FREE at:
http://www.bizzydays.com
This article first appeared in Michael's newsletter 'Ebook Times'.
To subscribe visit: http://www.bizzydays.com/free_newsletter.htm

That's Not Spam, That's My Newsletter!

That's Not Spam, That's My Newsletter!
By Jessica Albon

For those of us who receive way too many unsolicited emails, Spam filters are a blessing. Switch to the publisher's side of the desk, though, and Spam filters can become problematic.

Before you can keep your opt-in newsletter out of the Spam filter's reach, you have to learn a little about the kinds of Spam filters available. Currently, options range from those installed by an ISP, like Spam Assassin, to those that run with another program, like Microsoft's Outlook, as is the case with cloudmark's SpamNet. Spam Assassin uses a point system to determine whether or not a piece of email is Spam. The more points a particular email collects, the more likely it is to be Spam. SpamNet not only filters based on key words (free!, for instance), but also allows users to submit Spam to then be blocked for other users. Most Spam filters use some sort of blacklist of known Spammers to block emails.

The other component you'll need to be aware of is the blacklist. As mentioned, most of the available Spam filters use one or more of these collections of email addresses and domain names that send out a lot of Spam. Blacklists are primarily compiled by volunteers. In other words, you mail them the Spam you receive in your inbox, they take a look at it and then decide whether or not to add the sender to their list.

Because Spam filters have both a computer component (such as the points system used by Spam Assassin), and a human component (such as the blacklists and the new system from SpamNet), you'll need to make sure your newsletter doesn't raise flags in either camp. Here are some suggestions for avoiding problems.

So your newsletter convinces people

1. Never send your newsletter unsolicited, not even to current or past customers (it's easy enough to ask them if they'd like to be subscribed with a personal email). In fact, it's a risk even to send your newsletter to a list you've purchased no matter what you've been told about the intent of the list's subscribers-can you be sure all of the subscribers expected to receive your email on widgets just because they checked a box saying they were interested in widgets? This will help keep you off the "blacklists" that are available to Spam filters.

2. Provide what you say you will, when you say you will. Don't mislead your audience at the subscribing stage and don't send out emails with manipulative subject lines. Not only is this not good for your reputation, but it may also trigger common Spam filters.

3. Don't type all in caps. A hallmark of the Nigerian Bank Scam, typing all in caps isn't just rude; it may get your newsletter forwarded to a blacklist. Additionally, make sure to capitalize the beginnings of your sentences and otherwise use professional grammar and punctuation. An unprofessional email may be more likely to arouse the suspicions of your readers.

4. Leave them wanting more. If your newsletter is really, really valuable, subscribers who don't get it will miss it. Some ezine publishers have found their ezines are so popular, people who stop receiving the emails actually complain.

5. Make your policy clear. Tell readers how to unsubscribe at your website and in your newsletter. Let them know whom to contact if they have any trouble. And, of course, make sure to follow through immediately.

So your newsletter convinces the computer

6. Steer clear of subject lines that scream SPAM! Words like "free," "limited time," and "money" often trigger Spam filters. Take a look at the Spam in your own inbox for examples of words not to use.

7. Offer directions for "subscribing" and "unsubscribing." Spammers often use the word "remove" in their emails, so you'll want to avoid it at all costs. Plus, in some Spam filters, you actually lose points (the fewer points, the less likely an email is Spam) when you offer subscribing and unsubscribing instructions.

8. Send it from a reputable domain name, or better yet, your own. Free email addresses are often used heavily by Spammers, so you'll want to stay away from them if at all possible.

9. Don't send attachments. Most email readers regard attachments with suspicion anyway and the attachment may trigger Spam filters set up to screen adult material. Both are good reasons to send your entire email in the body of the email. Still not convinced? Many of your readers will have limited inbox space-by avoiding attachments you won't give them an extra reason to delete your newsletter unread.

When you keep up-to-date on the latest Spam filter technology, you may find Spam filters are actually your allies-they may mean your newsletter will have less competition in your reader's inbox.

Is it your job to increase company profits? The Write Exposure offers the resources you need to do just that at http://www.designdoodles.com

Finding an Acceptable Solution to Conquer Spam Email

When e-mailing first became popular during the early 1990s, it was seen by many as a quick, convenient and easy way to send a message or image to friends and acquaintances. After all, this is what it was intended to do. On the up side, it eliminated trips to the post office and stationery store. Unfortunately, there was also a down side -it was easily exploited by some as a cheap, simple way to send unsolicited advertisements to lots and lots of people.

Since 1994, the sending of unwanted, unsolicited e-mail, otherwise known as spam (a term borrowed from an old Monty Python satire) has escalated exponentially. Some professional spammers send as many as ten million messages daily. But even if only one in 10,000 people respond, spam can obviously be profitable - otherwise, no one would bother to send it.

For those such as authors, who legitimately want to put their
articles into the hands of publishers, there are services such
as the phantom writers (http://www.thephantomwriters.com), who
send to their lists of thousands of sources. However, this is
all opt-in and perfectly appropriate. And in most cases, services
such as this actually deliver their email to double opt-in lists.

One British spam tracking service, Spamhaus, estimates that more
than 80% of all e-mails sent in the U.S. are spam, and in Europe,
the number exceeds 50%. This is expensive, costing billions of
dollars in lost business and taking up computing capacity that
spammers use for free. In addition, computer security is
compromised.

This has long been recognized as a critical problem, and a
variety of solutions have been proposed. It has been suggested
that perhaps there should be a small charge for sending and/or
receiving e-mail to cut down on traffic The problem with that
suggestion is that the spammers won't end up paying, but instead
will post using a fraudulent account.

The U.S. Government even came up with its own bright solution
to create a "do not spam" list, modeled on the "do not call"
registry that has been so successful. The problem there is that
this isn't going to stop spammers, many of whom are located
outside the U.S. It will simply confirm live e-mail addresses,
providing more incentive to send the stuff. This suggestion
was quickly scrapped.

Currently, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, and AOL are working to find
an acceptable solution. It's going to be a very difficult task
and may take a lot of compromise among these companies. However,
from this vantage point, it looks as though whatever is proposed,
the spammers are going to be one step ahead.
Rosalyn Bronstein, for more than 20 years an author and
consultant, has been an advisor to numerous multinational
corporations and international organizations. Understanding
the value of maintaining relationships, http://www.ntouchnrat.com
was created. It's a unique and secure way to never lose touch
again with the people who have brought meaning to you life,
without having to use e-mail.