Would you consider this email SPAM?

[tombarr]

If you received the email below, would you consider it spam?
What about if you were subscribed to their email newsletter?
My understanding is that even a subscribed email newsletter must
be properly addressed (i.e. my email not being cloaked), and must provide an
unsubscribe option or removal option. NOTE: The from email address
and the TO email address were exactly the same in the email as this is how it was received. (I have changed the real email address and company name as it is a well known company to all of you)

Your opinions? email below.

------------------------------------------------------------




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: person@website.com [mailto:person@website.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:00 PM
To: person@website.com
Subject: Website Promotion Link



February 25, 2006




TO: Webmaster
RE: Website Promotion Link



It would be our honor if our website were to have a banner placed on your fabulous website. For stats information they can link to our website from yours. Please let me know if this is possible and please feel free to see the attached banners that will be are now available for webmasters. And if you would like to post our banner, please email us your banner so that we may place it on our Website.

Let me know if this is acceptable to you and of course your personal opinions on the banners.

Thanks You so much


Person
Website Assistant Editor
Website Company
WEb Division

[maxpower]

If you received the email below, would you consider it spam?
What about if you were subscribed to their email newsletter?
My understanding is that even a subscribed email newsletter must
be properly addressed (i.e. my email not being cloaked), and must provide an
unsubscribe option or removal option. NOTE: The from email address
and the TO email address were exactly the same in the email as this is how it was received. (I have changed the real email address and company name as it is a well known company to all of you)

Your opinions? email below.

------------------------------------------------------------




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: person@website.com [mailto:person@website.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:00 PM
To: person@website.com
Subject: Website Promotion Link



February 25, 2006




TO: Webmaster
RE: Website Promotion Link



It would be our honor if our website were to have a banner placed on your fabulous website. For stats information they can link to our website from yours. Please let me know if this is possible and please feel free to see the attached banners that will be are now available for webmasters. And if you would like to post our banner, please email us your banner so that we may place it on our Website.

Let me know if this is acceptable to you and of course your personal opinions on the banners.

Thanks You so much


Person
Website Assistant Editor
Website Company
WEb Division

Well ya man, I get a few forum letters like that every week, the only time I take them seriously is when they say specific things about my site that they liked so I know they are really talking about me rather than just making a blanket statement.

[LiveTwinksCam]

Does not look like spam to me. Looks like he is just trying to do a banner swap with you and maybe gain some business.

[MiamiB]

Looks OK to me. I would not consider it spam.

Lee

[robin]

I delete those types of emails for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is because it's obvious that they sent the exact same email to a whack of other people at the same time. (bcc and lack of personalization.) Another reason is because generally I've found that such solicitations never give me a link back. And thirdly I don't give banner links to anyone except for those I'm affiliated with.

[basschick]

on the one hand, no - i do not consider this spam.

on the other hand it's such a lousy letter *LOL*

[tombarr]

Well, I guess that according to Spamhaus it is not spam, because it does not cross the required threshold of fulfilling both checks for a spam definition....

1. Bulk impersonal emails
2. Unsolicited.

It is a bulk impersonal email, obviously sent to a list without any attempt at personalization, so on this basis alone, I would delete it. I think it would further be obvious that any link back to my site would be buried on some off the beaten path link page which would do me little to no good for traffic, albeit there might be some added triangulation, link popularity, back links credit for it. if this were sent to a list of 5000, and 200 links were obtained... (on a lucky day!!!) my recip from him would be so buried as to never achieve any visability... How could he possibly put the same type of banners as he wants placed on my site, on his link page? The page would never load!

I thought all emails from even subscriber lists had to provide an unsubscribe function....a way to opt out of the list....to be safe from a spam designation.

I think it was poorly done, and if this solicitation is so poorly constructed, or blindly sent out... what kind of attention is going to be paid or construction given to the reciprocal links page he indicates he would put my banner on?

[LiveTwinksCam]

Just reply back to him and say I am not interested in your product and please don't email me again. Or just delete it.

My family members and friends use to send me fwds all of the time of jokes, etc. I just email them back and say don't send me anymore of this type of email and they stop doing it.

[maxpower]

I don’t think I would go out of my way to start problems with the sender after all if I did that it could become a full time job, but its basically Spam in that its just sent to any and everyone they could.

[Bec]

I get similiar emails all the time wanting banner trades on my mainstream site. If they don't have an affiliate program, I don't even bother responding.

What gets me is this one guy that must email me every 3 months or so, and showing a page where he has already placed a link to my site and asking for a reciprocal link. Checking further ... there's not a chance in hell anyone will ever SEE that link page my site link is on as there isn't a link to it on his site in the main pages at all. Plus the product he's selling would be of no interest at all to my traffic. :wacko:

[Jasun]

yeah, it's pretty much diet spam.

It's a bulk mail to get links.. the guy probably never saw your "Excellent" site to begin with.

[Florin]

Yes, that's a spam email, it's unsolicited, and written as a circular, not addressed to YOU or YOUR site/biz, etc., but "to whom it may concern" ...

[gaybucks_chip]

I think what you've got is a bulk-generated email from a website owner who's hired a SEO company.

One of my other (non-adult) businesses hired an SEO company in India, and what they did to improve our page rank was to have their crack staff of 500 people (or something like that) mail a bazillion site owners and ask for links back... they were aiming for about 1200 return links, so they went pretty far afield of the primary subject matter of the site to get links.

So I think that's what you have... some company hired to generate return links, that probably is paid based on each link they create. As such, in my book, it is sorta grey-market spam. For the non-adult sites I run, I get link requests all the time, and some of them are so ludicrous ("I think your cosmetic company would be a great link partner with my auto parts store" sort of thing) that I respond back and say "You've *got* to be kidding." I almost never get a response.

I'd say don't bother reporting them... they're *trying* to stay within the spirit of the rules...

[Paco]

No Sir, I do not like green eggs with my spam!

As with others, I get those lovely generic e-mail requesting banner swaps. I have replied asking what it is exactly about our site that he/she liked best and

I rarely receive a reply.

[Paco]

Mmmm... more spam. What, no toast?

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