Google tried to run an end-around on a German trademark holder of the Gmail name by seeking a European Union trademark for it.

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Will a price as low as $3 per user offset concerns over Google providing email filtering and security as a third party to companies?

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Google’s Gmail team hasn’t cracked yet on its disdain for folders, as they present a small tweak to Gmail’s label function.

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Folks in SEO/SEM, webmaster-type circle have a tendency to get all fired up over ‘no follow’. There seems to be a prevalent misconception that a no followed link is worthless. The fact of the matter is, that simply isn’t the case. Loren Baker recently made a really cool and concise post that does a fantastic job of explaining what exactly ‘no follow’ means to the various search engines.

The basic conclusion drawn is that some value should be associated with ‘no follow’ links. Yahoo and Ask both handle a ‘no follow’ link quite differently compared to Google’s rather extreme policy of essentially ignoring the link completely. Ask, for example, evidently doesn’t give a whit about ‘no follow’ - they don’t even support ‘no follow’. So if Ask is your game… ‘no follow’ is a non issue. Yahoo is somewhere in between. Yahoo will follow a ‘no follow’ but no attribution will be given to the target. In other words, they will crawl the link but you won’t get any benefit from the anchor text/attribution etc.

So there you have it. Loren does a good job of explaining how and why ‘no follow’ shouldn’t be regarded as worthless. Technically speaking, he’s absolutely correct. Ask doesn’t support ‘no follow’, so you’re gold there… and Yahoo does, in fact, index the links at least - so that’s something, I guess.

In the end, I suppose all you folks making all your money and getting all your traffic from Ask and Yahoo really don’t have much of anything to worry about in terms of ‘no follow’. For the other 90% of the web businesses in world however, I think we can and should all still be a little irritated about the whole ‘no follow’ thing.

Personally, I think it’s a Draconian stopgap solution to a certain (I won’t name any names) search engine’s inflated value on links as a basis for their ranking algorithm. On Lauren’s post there is a comment to the effect that it was hoped that sites would develop ways to adopt “less-absolute” approaches to ‘no follow’ .

I’m glad they’re at least hoping everybody else will take care of this for them. How innovative.

The team working on Yahoo Mail has added several new features, and partially addressed the slowness of the service for users.

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But you don’t have to have them. Lots of great tips from this site on being more secure and productive with email.

Posted by David Utter

The email service provider of choice for identity theft is, according to a report from checkmyfile.com, Yahoo!… a dubious honor if there ever was one. 82% of these attempts are done so using a Yahoo email account. Furthermore, people who use Internet email accounts when shopping online are more likely to be blacklisted as identity thieves.

The study also found Internet businesses are more likely to issue refunds to shoppers using these email accounts because the charges will not recognized by the actual card carrier. This means quite a few fraudulent credit charge attempts are done by identity thieves using and email address from one of these popular services.

What is it about Yahoo Mail that makes it so attractive to identity thieves? It has to do with these the perception of these accounts being reliable and therefore the user is trustworthy (although, reports like this may change that perception). The report reveals it’s also harder to trace the member who signed up for the account, making these email services an absolute haven for identity thieves. If Yahoo and the other web mail providers aren’t careful, their email addresses might wind up being unusable for ecommerce purposes. (hat-tip to SC Magazine)

Chris Richardson
Staff Writer | WebProNews

As one of the acting administrators of WebProWorld, I’ve come across a number of subjects asking how to improve email marketing efforts. One of the most effective methods, according to a report issued by InternetRetailer, is to use a branded subject line. This information comes from a study conducted by Silverpop Systems, which says a branded subject line can increase opens by up to 60%.

If that amount comes anywhere close to being accurate, then using this type of subject line should be an automatic reflex. Other areas to concentrate on include emails with special offers. The study reveals users are less likely to open an email offering a percentage discount (save 20%) in the subject line. However, if the subject used dollar amounts instead of percentages (save $20), openings improved by 45%.

As you can see, two fairly simple alterations can have sweeping effects on how many people open your marketing email. With that in mind, it would be foolish to ignore the information provided by Silverpop’s study.

Chris Richardson
Staff Writer | WebProNews

If you are an Internet marketer employing email-based campaigns, then you know the importance of your message getting to its intended recipient. What can you do to prevent these mailings from getting blocked? Thanks to a new white paper (PDF) by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, marketers now have an idea of what they should avoid (hat-tip to MarketingVox).

The IAB indicates over 60 billion emails are sent daily, many of which are categorized as spam (80% if you follow IAB). The increased email activity caused a number of anti-spam companies and ISPs to create procedures designed to put a dent in the unwanted mail. However, these procedures can make legitimate emails undeliverable, which can have disastrous effects on a marketing campaign.

There are a number of factors that determines whether or not an email will be delivered, including spam blacklists, content filters and spam traps. The IAB suggests following these steps when trying to avoid delivery penalties:

• Understand the factors that contribute to blocking & filtering.
• Monitor your program delivery to learn the extent of problems.
• Uncover the root causes of your specific issues.
• Ensure your technical infrastructure meets required standards.
• Build relationships with ISPs to help resolve delivery issues.

Because email succesful marketing campaigns depend on a good opening rate (and a good click-thru rate), the effects undelivered mail are obvious. By following the IAB’s guide, improving an email’s negative deliverablity score is easier to accomplish.

Chris Richardson
Staff Writer | WebProNews

AOL will be implementing the Goodmail certified emailer system at the end of the month. This will create a new email tier guaranteeing that customers of Goodmail get their email delivered into the top of the inbox.

AOL touts this new partnership as helping their members stamp out spam. Of course this is a complete and utter falsehood. The Goodmail system actually will ensure that sponsor emails hit the top of the inbox. It doesn’t mean these advertisers are spamming but who else is going to pay but advertisers and corporations. Sure, the AOL member probably opted in at some point … but now at AOL the advertiser message is going to take priority.

The Goodmail system relies on a significant payment by emailers. No one but advertisers and large corporations will pay …. period! AOL has called statements such as this extreme and fanatical. But really, who is AOL helping here with this new for-pay priority email system? Let’s follow the money… An advertiser or corporation pays Goodmail. Goodmail does nothing but tell AOL that they are not spammers. AOL then takes 50% of the Goodmail cash every time this company sends an email to an AOL address. What does the subscriber get ? Nothing!

So in summary, Goodmail and AOL get lots of money and AOL’s subscribers get advertisements at the top of their inbox. Obviously, AOL is doing this deal for money… no other reason. Unfortunately, it may be penny smart and pound foolish because AOL subscribers have many other email options. And the first option that comes to mind … Gmail … sounds kind of like Goodmail … but is completely different … it’s free!