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I included some Outlook instructions in post #27.
set up e-mail client rules to block Gmail
Why would you want to do this? (And yes, I've been keeping up with Gmail, in great detail.)
AdSense is not compensating me when user click on an advertisement embedded within my e-mail.
This is blatently false.
Unlike Hotmail, Yahoo, etc., etc., Google does not put adverts in your e-mail, either sent or recieved.
So what you really need to do is block Hotmail and not Gmail, because clearly you feel that Hotmail owes you money for the countless number of e-mails its users have no doubt sent you.
As for "compensation" for anything, I'd have thought that a free, one Gigabyte inbox was compensation enough for anyone, particularly since it's 500 times what Hotmail currently offers.
Any advertising is placed at the side of the page (not in the e-mail) and is text-based and relevant, as opposed to (to use Hotmail once again) utterly irrelevant and graphical.
So if your only objection to Gmail is that you feel they owe you money for allowing people to send e-mail for free, then perhaps you should rethink your "return to sender" policy?
To block Hotmail messages in Outlook, do the following:
1. Create a new e-mail message. Add a subject (Hotmail Denial Notice) and your default copy in the body section.
2. Click "File > Save As" and then select "Outlook Template" from the file type menu. That will add the e-mail to your templates folder.
3. Open your rules editor ("Tools > Rules and Alerts"). Click on new rule, and then walk through the wizard selecting the following items:
A) Apply rule after message arrives
B) With specific words in senders address (hotmail.com)
C) Reply using a specific template. (Select the template yoo created).
That's it. Now, anytime you receive an email sent from a Hotmail user, Outlook will automatically reply with your denial notice.
Adapted from WebGuerrilla's instructions on denying Gmail.
Starting to see the ridiculousness of all this? :)
-- James.
Ad on your web site but not being paid for clicks by visitors
You mean like Geocities?
Gmail is a service. Advertising is part of this, which the user has opted for. If they didn't want to use Gmail they wouldn't. There are many hundreds of alternatives out there! :S
Our servers are paid for, like our e-mail systems, thus do not have advertising.
I would liken it to your refusing to get a lift in a friend's car because he drives a Ford, and you don't like Fords.
People drive different makes of car, and people use different mail services. It's their choice.
See you round WW :)
If Hotmail starts scanning the content of an email I wrote in order to serve an ad that matches the topic of that email, then they are using my content to generate revenue without compensating me for the use of that content.
Some may be ok with that. I'm not.
Do you have authoritative information from Hotmail and Yahoo to support that claim?
Hotmail and Yahoo does not base their ads on the content of the email.
If people didn't want ads based on the content of e-mails they received, then surely they'd have signed up with Hotmail or Yahoo?
generate revenue without compensating me for the use of that content.
If you own a web site about widgets, you are going to display ads about widgets, and not cars.
If you send someone an e-mail about widgets, and they have chosen an e-mail provider that displays ads about widgets, they are going to find those ads more useful than adverts about cars.
It's just business sense. People have a huge choice when it comes to e-mail, and some have chosen a provider that gives them relevant ads. Ergo they want relevant ads, otherwise they'd choose another provider, like Hotmail or Yahoo.
Am I missing something?
not targeted.
Hence Google make more money and can offer much larger (and IMHO nicer) e-mail accounts for free.
Yes. My competitor will show up on that advertisement. Why would I want my competitor to appear in a private communication?
Clearly this is a difficult situation, but there must be a better way around this than simply blocking an entire domain.
better way around this than simply blocking an entire domain
I was thinking of making a little program that would allow me to forward email to an account I and then send a an email to the original account with a link to click on.
The process would be:
1) I receive an email from a Gmail account or some other place I do not want to respond
2) I write my response and forward it to an email account at my domain
3) A little script running on crontab grabs the email, stores the response in a database, creates a unique URL with a hash, a sends out an email to the orginal person with the URL
4) The peron gets the email, clicks the link and a script grabs the response from the database and formats it for reading.
I think there might already be some customer support software packages that do this, or it would be probably pretty straightforward to add in this functionality to existing customer support software.
The biggest potential problem I see is that some receipients might think the email with the link is SPAM.
If you wish to block my email account, go right ahead. I'll just take my business elsewhere to a company that values their customers' choices, not traps their customers into purchasing.
If that's the reason for blocking it, it maybe prudent to do what overture.com does with its robots.txt.
World isn't that insular yet ;)
I want targeted ads
Exactly.
I equate this with a customer calling me regarding a product then telling the buyer they can also buy the product/service from these other locations. What I provide in e-mail is my time and expertise. I offer this in hopes of making the sale. I don't do it for goodwill. Same scenario as a buyer going into a retail shop to speak with an expert. They then go online to buy from another store that offers the product for less. To me, the choice that is offered in e-mail is at a crucial point of making or break the sale. I prefer the buyer not lose focus at this point.
> I'll just take my business elsewhere
No one is trapping you from making a purchase. You can research all you want - just not with my e-mail please.
[edited by: sun818 at 5:07 pm (utc) on June 8, 2004]
Comments?
Post the e-mail on a test web page with your AdSense JavaScript. Then compare results.
[edited by: WebGuerrilla at 7:56 pm (utc) on June 8, 2004]
