Email service provider Silverpop has integrated RSS into its offerings via a proprietary tool, RSSDirect, which tracks subscriptions and dynamically generates individualized content for each subscriber, reports ClickZ. Marketers can assess how subscribers interact with content and use that data to tailor offers. "You can start to understand the behavior of the user base and you can offer much more relevant targeting to customers versus purely generic content," said Silverpop CEO Bill Nussey.

Nussey is quoted as saying the new, spam-free medium would grow to "near ubiquity" over the next several years: "The possibilities become incredible when you think about individualized communications that are phish-proof and completely deliverable."

"With so few consumers taking advantage of it (RSS) right now, it's not a top priority," said Michael Della Penna, CEO of Epsilon (formerly Bigfoot Interactive). "What you're seeing right now is a lot of marketers testing the waters."