AOL Wants a Cut of the Paid Email Action
After years of being forwarded the Bill 602P "5-cent email tax" email, I didn't pay much attention when I first heard about AOL's plan to charge people who want to email their customers. But after seeing it on a few different blogs, I decided it must be the real deal and took the time to read about it (NY Times link).
If you haven't heard, AOL is going to start charging companies a small fee (1/4 cent to 1 cent) to give their emails priority -- the go straight to the inbox instead of through all the SPAM filters, etc. These messages would be called "AOL Certified Emails" and the senders can only pay to send the messages to people who've agreed to receive them. In other words, it'll be just like PTR, except AOL isn't giving any of the money to the members.
I can remember reading discussions about these type of email payment systems years ago (I'm thinking Jakob Nielsen was a big proponent, but I'm not sure and I can't find a useful link). I think it makes sense, especially if you combine it with a micropayment system, and maybe some kind of decent reputation management system as well. But to me the key is that the recipient sets the price and gets the bulk of the money.
If AOL want 1/4 cent to certify the email, fine. But I want to be able to charge an additional 1 cent to give you permission to send me your "Travel Tips" newsletter. If I like it, I might drop the fee (and maybe be able to add you to my personal whitelist so you don't have to pay AOL, either) . If you want to send me ads for Viagra and penis enlargement nasal spray, that'll involve a $5 fee. Per email. Otherwise, there's no chance in hell your email will ever see my inbox.
If you haven't heard, AOL is going to start charging companies a small fee (1/4 cent to 1 cent) to give their emails priority -- the go straight to the inbox instead of through all the SPAM filters, etc. These messages would be called "AOL Certified Emails" and the senders can only pay to send the messages to people who've agreed to receive them. In other words, it'll be just like PTR, except AOL isn't giving any of the money to the members.
I can remember reading discussions about these type of email payment systems years ago (I'm thinking Jakob Nielsen was a big proponent, but I'm not sure and I can't find a useful link). I think it makes sense, especially if you combine it with a micropayment system, and maybe some kind of decent reputation management system as well. But to me the key is that the recipient sets the price and gets the bulk of the money.
If AOL want 1/4 cent to certify the email, fine. But I want to be able to charge an additional 1 cent to give you permission to send me your "Travel Tips" newsletter. If I like it, I might drop the fee (and maybe be able to add you to my personal whitelist so you don't have to pay AOL, either) . If you want to send me ads for Viagra and penis enlargement nasal spray, that'll involve a $5 fee. Per email. Otherwise, there's no chance in hell your email will ever see my inbox.
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