Email marketers have yet to adopt best practices - except those required by the CAN-SPAM Act, according to an EmailLabs study (PDF), writes MediaBuyerPlanner. Inclusion of a working unsubscribe link, required by the CAN-SPAM Act, was the only best practice universally adopted by mainstream marketers. The company analyzed whether emails incorporated best practices, such as a design that takes into account the preview pane and blocked images, and whether or not they included a link to a profile update, a link to a privacy policy and a forward-to-a-friend button, among others.

The top three most widely ignored email best practices were (1) including a subscription or administration center, (2) providing a site-search function in the email itself, and (3) including a forward-to-a-friend link. Travel companies - including airlines, hotels and booking agents - had the highest adoption rates of the 18 best practices considered in the audit, scoring six top ratings and none of the lowest ratings.

See the following graph for how publishers and retailers fared in the study:

Financial marketers, like credit card companies, mortgage brokers and banks - which rely on trustworthy emails to be delivered to the recipient's inbox - nevertheless performed the worst of all market segments.