AOL, Yahoo to Charge Filter Bypass Fees

At least two online services will be introducing features that would allow e-mail marketers to pay to ensure their messages don't end up being blocked as spam. Both AOL and Yahoo plan to start offering the service within the next several months.

In exchange for paying a small fee of a quarter of a cent to one cent per message, the sender would be guaranteed delivery and the e-mail would be marked as legitimate in the header.

Participation is not mandatory, however companies who don't register will receive no assurance that their e-mails are making it to their intended destinations.

Yahoo and AOL say that this would likely solve the issue of e-mail messages falsely being marked as spam. While both have done extensive work on their spam filtering technologies, the system is still not perfect and will occasionally block legitimate mail. This can harm companies who depend on e-mail.

AOL says that it has received requests from both customers as well as marketers to improve the system, and this seems the most sensible way to do so. Both companies would use a system developed by Goodmail Systems, and they would initially target larger companies who send large amounts of mail.

So far credit company Experian, the American Red Cross, and the New York Times have registered for the service. As part of the registration process, these companies have also agreed to only contact those who have asked to receive communications from them in order to use the service.

Not just anyone can register for the Goodmail program, according to the company's website. Each registrant must meet certain qualifications, including at least one year of verifiable business history, business headquarters within the U.S. or Canada, transmitting of e-mails through a dedicated IP address for at least six months, a low complaint rate, and adherence to the company's security policies.

Also, once in the program, Goodmail will monitor unsubscribe rates. "Goodmail will track a sender's ongoing performance through its CertifiedUnsubscribe feature which will allow consumers to provide feedback about the sender's email behavior and/or the messages they have received from that sender," the company said.

Registration for the service will cost the sender $199 USD until July, when the fee goes up to $399 USD.

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