AOL and Goodmail Systems
Here's an overview of AOL and Goodmail's certification program, with links for further information. If you have useful links or factual corrections on the topic, I'll be happy to add them.
What's up?
AOL have announced a certification option for those sending bulk email to AOL's members. Organizations can apply to a private certification service (run by Goodmail). If they satisfy certain criteria on such things as opt-in practices, then they become certified.
Mail sent from a Goodmail-certified source is automatically routed to recipient inboxes at AOL, and all links and images in those emails are displayed normally. The mail also carries a symbol identifying it to the reader as certified. You can lose this golden status if enough people report you as spam.
The certification process requires payment of a fixed fee for the application, plus there is a fee for each certified email sent. These fees are yet to be finalized. You can learn about the certification process, criteria etc. from the Goodmail website.
Mail that is not certified is not penalized. Bulk emailers can still get on AOL's whitelists (the basic and enhanced ones) and/or continue to face the existing anti-spam measures used by AOL.
Initially, AOL stated that the certification alternative would replace their enhanced whitelist. But they later stated that the enhanced whitelist remains in place.
To understand the AOL whitelists and the current situation as it affects marketers, here are summaries:
Pivotal Veracity | Vertical Response
iMedia Connection | ClickZ
All things being equal, nothing has changed much. You can continue doing things exactly the same as you do today. But you have an additional delivery option to consider - Goodmail certification.
So why all the fuss?
The AOL announcements and retractions are important because they throw up several issues.
1. Although non-certified email is not penalized in any formal way, the certified option has implications for other email.
Does the presence of commercial email marked as certified change the way people view commercial email with no certification?
Are AOL's anti-spam measures now going to get tighter (as has been hinted), since there is now a "certified" way of avoiding the false positive problem (where permission-based email gets caught by filters designed to keep out spam).
All things being equal, consumers will actually get more commercial email through certification, so inbox clutter will increase, as will competition for the attention of the inbox owner. How will consumers react?
(Aside: If all commercial email has to be paid for, then spam drops because spammers can't pass the certification requirements or can't afford the fee with their low returns.
But if paid certification is just an add-on, then this likely adds to the "spam" problem, because more commercial email gets delivered. So don't let anyone sell you this deal as an anti-spam measure.)
2. Email's credibility took a hit and the anti-email crowd licked blood. See this post for an explanation.
3. The whole rumpus gave the idea of paying for email to be delivered a touch of credibility and a foothold in the public consciousness. It may be just the start of a wider movement to get senders of bulk email to pay for delivery. Which is a whole different kettle of email to the current situation.
4. How does certification benefit the sender? What are the likely direct and indirect benefits of guaranteed delivery and the certified status? Pamela Parker identifies some interesting indirect benefits here.
What should marketers do?
Ostensibly not a lot has changed for marketers, but there are things you need to do.
1. Segment out the .aol addresses on your lists and watch them closely in the coming weeks and months. Understand how they perform relative to other recipients. And understand how this changes through time, as certification is implemented.
Review the Goodmail certification process, particularly the costs, and do the calculations. How much extra response would you likely get from your AOL subscribers if you got certified. And how much would it cost you? Then you can make a business decision about whether certification is worth it to you.
2. Be prepared for the cost of email delivery to rise. Laziness or inefficiency will carry an ever-increasing financial cost. So...
- Keep your lists clean of dead or non-responsive addresses
- Apply the latest tactics and strategies to make sure you're getting the most out of your lists
- Consider delivery alternatives, like RSS
3. Understand and monitor the issues.
The wider concept of paying for guaranteed delivery would change the economics and landscape of email marketing in many ways. If you understand the implications, you can form an opinion and use your voice to guide the future. And you will be better prepared for that future.
It's hard to find objective opinions out there. For three reasons.
First, many of the comments come from vested interests. Second, the mainstream media got hold of the story without fully understanding the implications or realities of the situation.
Third, AOL's retraction took a while to reach the public domain, so many opinions -- especially early ones within the email marketing industry -- were based on the assumed loss of the enhanced whitelist.
Use your powers of analysis and objectivity when reading opinions.
Email marketing industry voices:
Richard Gingras (of GoodMail)
Matt Blumberg (and his subsequent blog entries)
Bill Nussey (ditto)
Christopher Knight (ditto)
Tom O'Leary (ditto)
Chris Baggott
MailChimp
Jordan Ayan
eROI
L-Soft
Other voices:
Seth Godin
Brad Feld (includes an extensive comment from AOL's postmaster!) (and check subsequent posts)
Jason Calcanis
Selected news sources:
Earlier blog posts from me:
Still more on certification
The last word on AOL (though it wasn't)
Email stamps
Pay to Play at AOL