Everyone seems to hate spam — except Internet marketers. Admit it, we love email marketing because it's cheap and easy. In fact, it's so cheap and easy that Internet marketers are happy with a response rate of less than one percent. So, who cares about the ninety-nine percent who don't respond?
Spam is not an Internet problem, it's a marketing problem. And marketers are frantically scrambling to make their marketing efforts more effective by better targeting the recipients. How? By monitoring Internet use. Monitoring and measuring Internet use has become a war unto itself.
How do you feel about adware, also referred to by some as spyware? The terms refer to computer programs and scripts that work behind the scenes on your computer to keep track of various things you do, ostensibly to send you ads that will be of interest to you.
Apparently, the solution to spam is spying. Interesting.
I have spent the last two weeks trying to remove an adware program that has attached itself to my computer system and provides a bevy of Internet Explorer (IE) popup advertisements, even when IE is not open. The script opens an IE window and violates my cyber space with an ad I don't want. I don't care what it's advertising, I don't want it. Shouldn't the advertisers pay me to use my cyber space, my pixels, my bandwidth, and my electricity for their purposes?
How did it that program get on my computer? I do have teenagers, but as irresponsible as they may be, they are not the source of the problem. They are only easily exploitable. Nor is the Internet the problem. It is just a leveraging tool. The real problem is a marketing mentality, an attitude, a worldview.
Are you aware that there is a worldview war that is raging just below the surface of your computer's system software. John Borland, writing for News.com, calls it A Secret War. And it is being waged by marketers against the public.
It is of interest to this marketers because it pits marketers and the companies they represent against the public, against potential customers. It is no exaggeration to say that advertising and marketing has a poor reputation in our society. Most people don't like being bombarded by advertisements, and a growing number don't like the kinds of ads they are seeing, or the kinds of marketing schemes they are the targets of. Witness the phenomenal growth of eMail spam filters and popup ad blocking software.
The latest entry into the fray is AdSubtract, a program that "culls out links that appear because of advertisement agreements between the organization and the search engine company," according to Paul Roberts, IDG NewsService, writing for InfoWorld. The thing to notice is the passion with which people dislike what is happening with ads.
Our computers have become the battlefield between creative marketers who are financially driven to find ever new and creative ways to serve up advertisements, and a growing backlash of consumers who feel like their rights are being violated through surreptitious, sneaky and often downright dishonest (though not illegal) marketing methods that spy on them in order to serve up content appropriate ads. Leading the pack with the most creative of such programs are the get-rich-quick spammers and porn shops.
What should be of note to the legitimate advertising and marketing community is the public reaction that lumps all advertisers and marketers into the same barrel. In addition, we find that more and more legitimate advertisers and marketers are using the methods of spammers and porn shops because they are so creative and cutting-edge. They are very creative!
Thus, the rot of the bad apples quickly spreads through the whole barrel through emulation.
Right or wrong, good or bad—it's happening! And the result inevitably produces antagonism between marketers and consumers. It is wasting precious time as programmers from each camp work furiously against the other. It wastes precious band width and, therefore, money as the glut of unwanted bits, bytes and pixels are set in motion.
In addition, it makes consumers more resistant to advertising, which in turn makes advertising and marketing more difficult—and again more costly. And at the same time, less effective. Because people don't like the methodology, they train themselves to block ads out of their awareness. The cycle contributes to a coarsening of society that is everywhere evident as dollar driven marketers push the envelope for eyeballs.
The only winners appear to be the few companies who benefit from receiving minuscule response rates, but make up for it by broadcasting a gazillion impressions. By and large we will find such companies to be small shops who have nothing to lose from such tactics—get-rich-quickers and porn shops (and those who share their values).
Nonetheless, the entire advertising and marketing community is being tarred by the same brush. Spam is a problem that belongs to the advertising and marketing community. It is the fruit of a mindset cultivated by the marketing gurus who invented viral marketing, and represents the pinnacle of one kind of marketing success. The entire marketing paradigm needs to be rethought, repositioned and rebranded.
If we can't control it from within, then the government will step in. And that will not be good news for anyone, except those who collect taxes. Do we really want government approved advertising?
Rotten Apple Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Phillip Ross's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 Sloppy naming
|
| |
 If you've got more than one product or service, you have a problem. You need to decide if there's going to be an architecture to the way you name things. General Motors has a division, Chevrolet. Chevrolet makes car...
|
|
On The Job: The Launch Of Apple
|
| |
 While the 26-year-old Wozniak was content with his computer hobbyist group, the 21-year-old Jobs had a greater vision for the future. After seeing a computer that Wozniak had designed for himself, Jobs began to thin...
|
|
Steve Jobs Apple
|
| |
He might have been just 21 years old when he founded the company, but under Steve Jobs, Apple grew to become a leader and an innovator in the global computer, software, and electronics industry. In fact, the company...
|
|
Pros and cons of franchise ownership
|
| |
There are various pros and cons of franchise ownerships. While it’s true that starting a franchise is better than setting up a stand-alone business; it’s equally true that franchise business has its limitations. So,...
|
|
Steve Jobs Bio
|
| |
The Steve Jobs bio, and the story of the life of a man whose career would rebound more times than many critics thought possible, began in San Francisco, California on February 24, 1955. Born to an unwed American mot...
|
|
|
Phillip Ross
(Visit Phillip's Website)
Phil's professional education and life
experience have provided him with an
extensive understanding of people and
organizations.
With more than twenty-five years of
ministry leadership, Phil has both an
understanding of and experience with the
unique circumstances involved in ministry
and non-profit organizations. He has
particular understanding of and commitment
to historic Reformed Christianity. He has
extensive teaching, public speaking,
seminar and board leadership experience.
Academic degrees in Philosophy and
Theology provide a broad based perspective
that understands logic, emotion, and
values, and the significant roles each
play in every organization. As a graduate
of the Dale Carnegie Sales Training
Institute (1966), Phil also has extensive
knowledge of sales.
Self-trained in graphic design and web
design, Phil has enjoyed many years
working in the art and science of design.
As a published author of five books and
many articles, Phil understands the
subtleties of language, grammar, editing,
and the art of turning a phrase.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
