AOL Inserts Ads Inside Email
First, a bit of background from InfoWorld:
“For the first time in its history, AOL is displaying ads along with e-mail messages to its paying subscribers, to increase the delivery mechanisms of its online ad inventory, an AOL spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.
This practice is common in free Webmail services but generally not in fee-based e-mail accounts, where the absence of ads is normally considered a perk of being a paying subscriber.”
And again, from InfoWorld, AOL’s most loyal subscriber base speaks up:
“Why pay for a service when there is no benefit?” Shinsky, a California resident, said in an e-mail interview.”
And then a last word from TechDirt:
“Obviously, there are plenty of email services that are ad-supported, but this is for paying AOL customers, who for years have been able to read email without ads getting in the way. And, of course, these aren’t just any ads, but (of course) intrusive ads that users complain are distracting. Considering that plenty of people seem to have kept their AOL subscriptions going for many years just to keep their email address, pissing off a bunch of those people doesn’t seem like the smartest strategic move.”
I agree - pissing people off is NOT a prudent business plan, although it seems to have become an important part of AOL’s major strategy over the years. I am assuming that most Search Engine Journal readers don’t have AOL as their gateway to the Internets, but many of us might have relatives (hi Mom!) who have relied on AOL for access. Inserting annoying ads between email messages is not a good way to make friends and influence people.
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12 responses so far ↓
m Thomas on Jun 18, 2006 at 3:44 am
I’ve been with aol about 13 years, since back in the days when my bill was $300-400 a month when they charged by the minute, and I am LIVID about these ads! I went around and changed my email address everywhere, prepatory to cancelling, since we have comcast for broadband and don’t need aol, but when I called they lowered my monthly bill to $4.95 a month so I kept it, and I use thunderbird (free download at mozilla.org) to pull my email off and read it offline, no ads that way, plus I re-downloaded aol 8.0 (keyword aol downloads) and I’m using it now, there are no ads in 8.0. I figure it’s worth 5 bucks a month to keep my favorite places, but I’m starting to transfer them as well, in case I cancel aol completely. This is unforgivable, it’s the biggest corporate misstep since new coke.
David Groff on Jun 20, 2006 at 11:44 am
I too have been with AOL forever, and these ads are unforgivable–the straw that breaks this camel’s back. The ads are insulting, intrusive, and read like SPAM. I’m preparing to cancel. How can we spread the word so that AOL knows it has a New Coke on its hands?
Melissa on Jun 20, 2006 at 10:36 pm
I too have started getting these ads at the bottom of emails I am reading. I even sent an email to aol asking about this and they said there are no ads in your emails. WELL, YES THERE ARE!!! Very annoying and I really think as a paying customer for over 12 years now I should not have to see these ads in my private emails. I tolerate them at the bottom of my mailbox but it’s pretty darned annoying while trying to read and keep getting flashed by emails.
Gary on Dec 18, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I have a new VISTA system with 2GB and these dam AOL ads slow down the opening of email to much is is exasperating. Tired of waiting just to open an email because some unsolicited email is loading and running across the bottom of the screen. I am in the process of switching to Google GMAIL after being with AOL since unlimited service started. Good riddance AOL!
Pat on Jan 28, 2008 at 1:52 pm
My husband is setting me up with a gmail address to get off AOL. I get lots of pictures in my from friends and I can’t even see the whole picture unless I save it somewhere. This is even with a 20″ screen. All my friends are dropping AOL as well.
hellyn on Feb 2, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I will be leaving AOL soon due to the ads at the bottom of my email. I pay too much money to have these intrusive ads placed on my emails.
Howard on Feb 22, 2008 at 11:12 am
The ads are iritating to say the least but now i cannot communicate with someone using hotmail for their email and that is intolerable the hyper text causes their system to lock up
i have been on AOL since they took over cserve in the late 80s and have only been disappointed by every new version. AOL IS TERRIBLE thanks for this thread i wont keep pullin my hair out trying to fix it
hellyn on Feb 22, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I know, I am so sick of these ads. One would think with all the options out there, AOL would want to keep their customers happy.
chigirl97 on Mar 28, 2008 at 11:02 am
you can cancel aol and still have your screen name and email for free! Just be sure NOT to delete your screen name when you cancel aol and it will be available via aol.com and their free email. i have canceled 2 aol accounts and am canceling a 3rd,,because of the intrusive ads at the bottom. I am not paying aol to advertise via my email.! ! !
Rick on Mar 29, 2008 at 12:37 pm
My mother has been using AOL for years and was I was already disgusted with the way they operate. I called them about certain problems and all I got was non-answers. When they started placing their large, flashy, stupid ads on their WELCOME screen and the ad links at the bottom of the emails and the ads which appear when you log off; it was to much. I sent them a complaint message stating that charging for their service and incorporating this garbage was more than stupid. I threatened to quit if they did not remove the ads. Of course, I never heard from them so I terminated service. I guess they like to lose paying customers. I hope everyone is getting as sick of ads being shoved in their face every time they turn around as I am. I won’t purchase anything any more that I see in advertising.
Tara Carlisle on Jul 26, 2008 at 6:17 am
Thankfully, paid AOL members can now disable ads at the bottom of their outgoing emails by going to keyword: FOOTER and unchecking the box that says “Show the message footer at the bottom of each email you send.”
Tara Carlisle on Jul 26, 2008 at 6:36 am
Also, forgot to add.. If you access your email directly from the aol website, go to your mailbox, click Settings, then Compose, and click “Turn on/off message footers.”
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