Economic Issues in Advertising via E-Mail: Role for a Trusted Third Party?

Abstract

By any measure, e-mail turns out to be one of most effective and useful features offered by the Internet. However, by providing an unprecedented level of personalized communication opportunities, e-mail has also become a favorite tool for commercial advertising which has led to the problem of unsolicited commercial e-mailing (UCE). Popular press is full of articles outlining that businesses spend billions of dollars every year to combat UCE (also termed as “spam” in literature). This chapter looks at the issues in e-mail advertising via a business model termed as Admediation which facilitates e-mail advertising. Admediary is a trusted third party that facilitates a mutually desirable communication between buyers and sellers via e-mail and operates under “opt-in” mode, which is widely supported by consumer advocacy groups. At the end we summarize the viability of Admediation and its impact on e-mail advertising.