ISP to shut down spam filters for 1 hour a day in cost-cutting measure
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Marketers concerned about the effect of inbox clutter on email response rates will not like news emerging from Marshalsea Mail, which represents some 153 million email accounts across North America and Europe.
According to Arthur Clennam, the company’s Director of Public Relations, the ISP is increasingly concerned by the IT processing resources consumed by growing spam volumes.
As a result, Marshalsea has announced that it plans to stop spam filtering for one hour a day in order to cut costs.
Spam tying up too many resources
Clennam notes:
“The long-term effects of the economic downturn have forced us to search for innovative ways to reduce costs and email filtering is one of the largest cost factors in running a provider service”
The current plan is to shut down spam filters for one hour during the night, when, says Clennam…
“…spam volumes are highest, but legitimate email messages are relatively infrequent.”
The actual hour of the stop will vary day-to-day to prevent spammers adjusting their send times to take advantage of the filter-free window.
What about the user experience?
Clennam dismisses concerns about the impacts for customers:
“Many users have desktop clients that will assume spam filtering responsibilities for that hour. In essence, we are simply transferring the processing burden from the ISP level to the desktop level.”
But what about people using Marshalsea’s webmail interface?
“Since the spam filter stop will always be when legitimate email traffic is at its lowest, bulk deleting spam emails will be relatively simple for the end user.”
Clennam also notes that some of the money saved (which he estimates at some $7.5 million a year) will be reinvested in better and faster services for clients, which will more than compensate for the small inconvenience caused by the filter stop.
New feedback mechanism for marketers
With a typical user getting pre-filter spam at an average rate of some 742 mails every 24 hours, it still means many inboxes will fill with an additional 62 emails per day.
As well as the inevitable impact on user attention, mailers sending to Marshalsea’s customers during the actual filter stop will inevitably see response rates crippled.
Recognizing the potential impacts for legitimate bulk email senders, the ISP plans to offer a twin solution.
1. Senders subscribed to the existing Marshalsea feedback loop will automatically be added to their filter feedback service, which provides seven days advance notice of the exact hour when spam filters are lifted.
2. Senders can apply for Marshalsea certification. Mail from certified senders that arrives during the filter stop will be automatically held and delivered only after spam filters are returned to operation.
The immediate response from marketers was less than positive. In his blog, William Dorritt, VP Marketing at Merdle Enterprises, described the proposed move as “penny wise, pound foolish”.
To learn more about Marshalsea, click here and check the date of this post.
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