Customers Blame ISPs for Spam

Polls show subscribers not only resent spam—they hold their ISPs accountable. Almost 25% believe their ISPs sell their email addresses to spammers.

[June 17, 1999]

A survey by the Gartner Group found that e-mail users are not only annoyed by unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) or spam, but many blame their ISP for the problem.

The survey, commissioned by Bright Light Technologies, a maker of anti-spam products, found that more than 90 percent of users receive spam at least once a week, and almost 50 percent get spammed six or more times per week. The study also showed that the longer customers have been with an ISP, the greater the probability of getting spammed and the more spam they are likely to receive.

"The study showed emphatically that e-mail users resent the time it takes to delete spam, see it as a huge invasion of privacy, and are offended by it," said Bright Light CEO Sunil Paul. "Unfortunately, the study also indicates that the problem will most likely get worse if it goes unsolved. Changing ISPs is only a short-term solution in that, over time, the new e-mail address will prove as susceptible to spam as the old one."

Other findings of the survey include:

• 84 percent of respondents had been a recipient of spam and a whopping 83 percent dislike spam
• Over 40 percent loath the time it takes to handle spam, 30 percent consider it a significant invasion of privacy and 15 percent find it offensive
• 25 percent would be willing to pay an extra fee for a spam-filter service and most respondents would look favorably at an ISP that offered a filter service as part of its program
• 75 percent of respondents view a spam-filtering service as a key advantage when considering a new ISP
• 24 percent believe their ISPs provided spammers with their e-mail addresses, yet fewer than 1 in 4 complained to their ISP

"Many ISPs are losing ground—and customers—because e-mail users are packing up and heading elsewhere in search of an e-mail world with no spam," Paul said.

—End