Certification making people twitchy

Following the news that the Goodmail certified email program is expanding to cover more ISPs, the protest has been muted compared to when Goodmail first launched the idea.

But here's a long report from one sender of email raising concerns about his own emailing future in a world where you might need to pay a fee to guarantee delivery.

The worry is not that certification exists per se. It's a good thing that people have another tool in their email marketing box.

But people suggest that if those guarding email inboxes are paid to guarantee delivery and ensure images, links etc display properly, then those guardians have an enormous financial incentive to make life more difficult for those not certifying their email.

They may protest otherwise, but human nature and business dynamics tell us that where there is money to be made, it will be made.

Ergo: be prepared for the costs of getting your email delivered to rise.

One thing though: Goodmail and the media world need to do a better job of explaining certification to the masses. An awful lot of people seem to think it's a way for spammers to pay to get delivered.

But certification implies a certification process. And the Goodmail one requires compliance with various best practices. No spammer would get certified. And even if they did, enough spam reports would see the certification revoked.

More on deliverability | Tags: email marketing, email certification, goodmail

 feed | email | Follow me on Twitter

The main website for everything email marketing | Introduction
Email advertising basics | Service listings | Sources of statistics
Advice on email design, delivery issues and list building

22 sources of inspiration
Outlook 2007 and HTML design
42 HTML email design resources

follow me on Twitter