Do Not Call Reduces Annoying Telemarketing Calls, But Encourages Spam Mail

Canada's National Do Not Call List (DNCL) comes into effect today, which is good news for anyone who receives those annoying phone calls during dinner that ask if you're happy with your current car insurance provider. All you have to do is register at http://www.dncl.gc.ca/, and telemarketers will not be permitted to contact you by phone. If they violate this rule, they could be fined up to $15,000! It sounds great, but does this mean they'll stop trying to contact you for good? Not quite.

A survey conducted on behalf of Pitney Bowes by Harris/Decima finds that 66% of businesses that currently market their products and services by phone will simply switch to the direct mail method. Great. So my dinner, favourite TV show, or early Saturday morning will no longer be interrupted by some student reading robotically from a script, but my mailbox will be crammed with even more junk mail for recycling that I don't even open.

Nevertheless, direct mail campaigns obviously work to some degree, as long as the recipient is interested in your product or service. The same survey found that 26% of Canadians would be more likely to read unsolicited mail ifit were personalized. And the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reports that every $1 spent in direct mail brings in $11 of business; more than twice as much as any other medium. (If this is the case, though, than wny wouldn't companies just go the direct mail route from the get-go?)

While the study was commissioned by Pitney Bowes with an obvious slant to snail mail campaigns, I'm sure that there are other studies that show many marketers will opt for the e-mail route as well. Online advertising spends will likely also go up as another method to reach customers. Funnily enough, my mom sent out an e-mail blast this morning letting everyone know about the DNCL, and suggesting that, while adding your name to the list might eliminate the calls, you could end up with "door-to-door (ding dong) telemarketers". (And yes, believe it or not, my mom is Internet-savvy!)

Rest assured that telephone or not, marketers will find a way to get their message out, whether it's by ding-dong door calls (selling vacuums, perhaps?) or a few extra letters in the mail every morning.

Facebook Gets Big Slap on the Wrist for New Ad Program

Popular social networking Website Facebook.com (for which Microsoft now owns a $240M equity stake) has been in the news lately, but not for good reason. It was recently revealed that, when a member purchased an item from one of Facebook's new advertising partner Websites, the information was automatically posted in the "news feeds" section of the site without the person's permission...sort of.

Here's how it supposedly worked: I buy something from a Website that's part of Facebook's new Beacon ad program (there are 44). A pop-up appears asking if I'd like the information to appear in my news feed on Facebook, a page that summarizes the most recent activity on of the site. If I click "no thanks" the information doesn't appear. However, if I quickly close that pop-up (which, let's face it, many of us do) then it's automatically assumed that I want everyone to know what I just bought online.

This, as you can imagine, is extremely intrusive, not to mention that it could have detrimental effects. The biggest example of such an effect is of one Facebook member who bought his wife a diamond ring from overstock.com (a Beacon partner Website), only to find out that the purchase appeared in the news feed for all his Facebook "friends" to see...including his wife.

Facebook has reportedly fixed the issue, requiring that a member now opt-in if he wants the informaiton published, rather than opt-out if they don't. Too little, too late for the aforementioned guy; and likely many others.

This brings us to an even bigger issue, which is how best to handle advertising in the social networking arena. The concept of Beacon is indeed a good one: if I just got a fantastic deal on a pair of designer shoes from some Website, of course I'd love for all my friends to know about it; and that partner Website would certainly love for me to tell them. It's like virtual word-of-mouth, so to speak. But it goes without saying that I, and no one else but me, should be in control of what gets published and what doesn't.

The situation can, in a way, be likened to spam mail, telemarketers, and even text messaged ads from cellular phone providers (yes, I've received a few of those!) In most cases, the companies obtained your information through legitimate means, but are using it to serve a purpose that benefits them, whether it be sending you targeted flyers in the mail, calling you about products for which they know you use, or sending you information about deals from stores you like. Facebook added a new variable: using your interests to generate interest from those who are like you (i.e. your "friends").

I'm not sure what Facebook was thinking: the company couldn't possibily have assumed that the 44 Beacon member companies would actually appreciate pissing off its customers for the sake of forced advertising. Nevertheless, the site appears to be cleaning up the situation, and making the appropriate adjustments to the Beacon system. In fact, eBay is reportedly set to sign up with the Beacon program in 2008: however, it will only publish information from sellers of products, not buyers. Smart move on eBay's part.

On another note, the bad press obviously hasn't hurt Facebook too much: according to the Associated Press, a billionaire in Hong Kong, Li Ka-shing, just paid $60 million for a 0.4% stake in the company. Ka-shing? Sounds more like Ka-ching for Facebook to me.

[Photo: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.]