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YAHOO! MAIL FIRST TO RECYCLE RUBBISH INTO JUNK MAIL PREVENTION
Added: (Wed May 21 2003)
YAHOO! MAIL FIRST TO RECYCLE RUBBISH INTO JUNK MAIL PREVENTION
- DUMP THE JUNK DAY 22ND MAY 2003 -
Yahoo! today reveals a revolutionary new advertising experiment to support their worldwide anti-spam initiative, Dump the Junk Day. For the first time ever, UK residents are being educated via their rubbish, using branded dustcarts, binmen, bins and bags with tips on combating junk email. The experiment will be given a helping hand by TV’s former EastEnder, Dean Gaffney, made famous in his role as a refuse collector.
Yahoo! Mail’s inspiration for experimenting with this new form of advertising is born out of a European study released today, revealing Brits are now more frustrated about receiving junk email than any other form of unsolicited communication and for computer users it is the third most stressful aspect of daily working life after traffic jams and long working hours.
KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
Yahoo!’s Dump the Junk Day European survey revealed that:
94% of Brits surveyed find junk mail hugely annoying, most do not know the best ways to tackle it
56% of Britons are unwittingly perpetuating the cycle of spam by replying to junk mail. Spammers often trap the public and confirm email addresses are real by offering fake clauses to opt-out of a mailing list
Over 25% of people had been fooled into opening junk mail believing it to be genuine communication
Only 2% of British internet surfers have made a purchase in response to junk mail - However if a junkmailer sells herbal Viagra @ £30, pays £1000 for a list of 100,000 email addresses and gets a 2% response rate, s/he will earn £60,000
Intrusion of privacy (61%) and powerlessness (35%) to combat junk mail were cited as two of the most frustrating aspects of junk mail in Yahoo!’s research. Big Brother’s Professor Geoff Beattie assisted Yahoo! to look at how this is impacting our lives, he comments “Junk mail is effectively an intrusion of our privacy and one which many people lack the knowledge to protect themselves against. Whether the junk mail is coming into a personal or work email inbox, unsurprisingly it leads to feelings of lacking control, frustration and anger.
“For the 25% of people surveyed in the study who are fooled into opening junk email believing it to be genuine, it is like being the victim of any kind of lie or deception and can add greatly to a daily build-up of stress.
Many causes of stress can be avoided or minimised and junk email is certainly a problem that, with some knowledge, better office email etiquette and guidance from Yahoo!'s tips, computer users can learn to tackle effectively.”
John Webb, Head of Yahoo! Mail in UK, comments “Our research shows that many British internet surfers don’t have the knowledge to tackle junk mail effectively with over half of Britons actually helping to perpetuate the junk mail cycle. This lack of know-how and the feeling of junk mail fatigue in the UK has inspired us to help educate the public and businesses. We don’t want to be in a situation where the number of junk mails sent overtakes solicited emails. Our trial media firsts of teaching people the perils of junk mail through their rubbish will hopefully help reduce this online burden.”
DUMP THE JUNK DAY ACTIVITY IN THE UK
Comment available from Stephen Timms, Minister of State for e-commerce (DTI) and Professor Geoffrey Beattie, Big Brother psychologist
New advertising medium – media first experiment to educate people through their rubbish with celebrity support from ex-EastEnder, Dean Gaffney
Dump the Junk Day Awards – Yahoo! calls for the UK to “name and shame” people who perpetuate the cycle by nominating them at dumpthejunkaward@yahoo.co.uk
Tips on combating junk mail - To educate Yahoo! Mail, and all internet users, on avoiding the pitfalls of junk mail, Yahoo! has developed some simple tips below or available in detail on yahoo.co.uk/emailmasterclass
1. Never reply to a junk email or click on a link within a junk email – it may lead to more junk email being sent to you
2. Treat your email address like your phone number – don’t give it out randomly as junk mailers often mine the internet for addresses to target
3. Never forward a junk email onto other people – junk emailers could get hold of their addresses too and you may lose friends!
4. Never fall for “personalised” or spoof email subject lines – junk emailers will try anything to get you to read their email
5. Always use an email service with recognised junk email-fighting tools, such as Yahoo! Mail where your account is protected by SpamGuard, one of the world’s leading anti-junk email technologies
--Ends--
NOTES TO EDITORS
Research conducted in first two weeks of May 2003 to Yahoo! 1000 users in UK
Survey also conducted in Italy, France, Denmark, Spain and Germany
For further information, interview or artwork:
Paul @ Cow PR
t. 020 7360 6064
e. paul@cowpr.com