Arresting a spammer – Boosting confidence in Web Marketing

MoreVisibility - June 4, 2007

Ding dong the King of Spam is Gone! Many advertising professionals and consumers alike rejoiced yesterday morning as they read about the arrest of Robert Alan Soloway for mail, wire and email fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. In short, Mr. Soloway is accused of spamming millions on behalf of himself and his clients who engaged his company Newport Internet Marketing Corporation to market their products through email blasts.

The good news is that spam may be reduced, the government is protecting the consumer, and illegitimate practices are clearly not being tolerated. So why is this important to all facets of electronic marketing, from email blasts to natural optimization? Generally speaking, those who have remained skeptical of any form of web marketing group all facets of the industry together. This portion of the population may see the arrest as an effort to safeguard them from any questionable web activity that has garnered attention, such as click fraud or keyword stuffing. Such a notion may then lead this crowd to feel more comfortable leveraging the web with search engine marketing, optimization and proper emailing, all of which may be considered relatively new tools.

The arrest can also be seen as a rite of passage for web marketing to become part of traditional marketing tactics. Direct marketing efforts though mail and phone are both regulated and monitored, for example no call lists and protection against mail fraud ease the consumer’s mind. Television and print are also policed and highly regulated to protect the consumer. This arrest proves that misuse of the web marketing platform through email in this case, is truly a serious matter and will not be tolerated.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief today, so rejoice with your clients and remember that doing the right thing always has its rewards!