Bonded Sender

The Spam weblog at WeblogsInc has a piece on the negative reaction to Microsoft's Bonded Sender program in which marketers "pay" to get through spam filters.

The gist of the negative reaction is that the program lines the pockets of Microsoft but doesn't do anything to rid inboxes of spam that is currently getting through.

I think that reaction is a bit shortsighted. Spam filters are going to get better and better. They will continue to tighten the noose on spammers. My mail box is certainly a lot better off than it was a year ago. I am fairly certain that's true of everyone who is using a good spam filter today.

The problem Bonded Sender is trying to solve is the false positive problem, which is growing. Read Seth Godin's recent post on the false positive problem.

This guy from the Seattle Times says, "Maybe my idea of screening is to have a mailbox with no marketing messages at all."

That's not my idea of a good outcome. I get messages from ticketmaster, eBay, my bank, my phone company, and many more "marketers" that I completely and totally rely on. They are a critical part of my routine. And I am sure that I am not alone in this behavior.

So I applaud Microsoft for trying to tackle the false positive problem. Bonded Sender may not be the best solution, but its a step in the right direction.

Comments

[Greg]

With all due respect I think that your response to the post is somewhat shortsighted. I'll be the first one to admit that I am an advocate of Microsoft technologies that enhance and improve the user experience through new "features".

That said, what Microsoft is proposing in this instance (Bonded Sender) does not equal new functionality. It amounts to the marketing and sales wonks in Microsoft selling a new business model to their customers under the guise of "but it's good for you". In the short term that may be so, but in the long term we'll all wish we resisted the temptation.

[Matt Blumberg]

With all due respect to Greg, his comment is somewhat misinformed. Microsoft is using a third party service called Bonded Sender -- they're not making money off the program at all, as they donate the bond debits to a non-profit. The whole philosophy behind Bonded Sender, whether you agree with it or not, is that it removes the economic free ride associated with spam by allowing mailers through who "put their money where their mouth is." I'm not sure if it will work for the long term or not, but it's a good start, and one that no one is really making money off of.