Jackie Huba finally wrote about something that's been bothering me for the past few weeks. Somehow, my name/e-mail ended up on a list at Vocus, so now 90% of all the unsolicited e-mail pitches I get are from Vocus clients. How do I know this? Well at the bottom of these e-mails is the standard 'unsubscribe' link. That link takes me back to a site run by Vocus.
Jakie took the time to contact Vocus and asked them some questions when they never responded via e-mail.
Four times in four months I used the contact info on the Vocus website (info@vocus.com) to ask for full removal. No reply to any email. Finally, I called Vocus' main number and asked to speak with someone. Julie returned my call 30 minutes later and promised to remove my name from their system. It seemed like a good time to ask Julie about Vocus' practices:
How do bloggers get added to the database? Vocus monitors top blogs in certain categories then adds their contact information to the database. Without permission, I asked? Yes, she said. Most bloggers are OK with that, she said. How does she know if they don't ask first?
Why couldn't I opt out entirely? We're working on that, she said, and promised to investigate why no one responded to my four emails.
Julie also said a client could have copied my email address from the system and might continue to send me emails. Lovely.
What's sad is that Vocus is a sponsor of NewComm Forum. Hopefully a number of attendees will stop by their booth and ask them to stop this practice. While you're at it, Vocus, please remove me from your list :-)












Visitor Comments
Vocus left a message on my phone wanting to "talk with me about a press release". They are aggressive in their spammy ways.
Posted by: John Stavely | March 4, 2008 2:01 PM
It's rather remarkable that they do not have an opt-out (Master Unsubscribe) list in this day and age. They're really asking to get sued.
It's quite common for emailers to use a 'list a day' approach when integrating email because it's usually easier to integrate that way than syncrhonize lists. However, not having a Master Unsubscribe list is begging for a lawsuite.
Posted by: Douglas Karr | March 4, 2008 5:05 PM