NPR Audio Stream: 'Spam Queen' Defends Direct Marketing Via E-Mail

This is a follow up interview with Ms. Betterly who was recently profiled in the WSJ, labelled as a "Spam Queen."

Whilst the interview is quite interesting, unfortunatley the interviewer does not properly challenge her. Ms. Betterly puts forward the defense that all the people on her list once opted in for something, and that they are free to unsubscribe, so what's the problem?

The real danger here is that with people like Ms. Betterly putting themselves forward as legitimate email marketers the line between "spammers" and "direct e-mail marketers" is set to become increasingly blurred in the eyes of the public.

Whilst the Direct Marketing Association appears to have finally woken up to this threat, the challenge that the industry face in creating a differential between legitimate and non-legitimate email marketers should not be underestimated.