Amidst a sea of spam emails, there are introductory messages offering millions of email addresses for advertising purposes. Many websites specializing in this type of service have emerged, attracting businesses and individuals looking to promote online.
Currently, online advertising methods such as placing banners and logos on high-traffic websites are gaining increasing attention from marketers. However, the exact number of customers reaching the advertised products and services remains unclear. As a result, the service of sending direct emails to financially capable customers based on specific regions and industries has strongly attracted those responsible for promoting their company’s products and services directly to the customers’ hands.
The advantage of this method is its speed and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional advertising methods, making it particularly suitable for introducing computer businesses, electronics, mobile phones, souvenirs, design consulting, restaurant and café promotions, and entertainment locations… The primary customers of this service are marketing departments in companies and online business entities. Even some website operators choose this service in hopes of increasing the number of visiting members.
Mr. Le Hoang Vu, owner of a service providing 1.2 million email addresses and email sending software for 350,000 VND, stated: “The act of sending advertising emails helps those who genuinely need to know about the providers of products and services. Some customers might not have an immediate need but are hesitant to delete the information sent to them, so they can contact later if needed.”
These services provide a list ranging from several hundred thousand to millions of email addresses belonging to businesses and individuals, which can be categorized by customer type and ensure no duplicates. All of these addresses can fit neatly on a single CD.
“We have a program that collects all email inboxes from websites, averaging about 4,000-5,000 email addresses each day. This data is continuously updated and categorized by industry such as tourism, hotels, and IT…”, said Mr. Tien Phuc, owner of a service providing 7 million email addresses. “My customers range from large IT companies to newly launched health and medical services.”
Mr. Le Hoang Vu further revealed: “There are many ways to obtain email addresses. I use software that scans all websites in Vietnam, ensuring a very high level of accuracy, and the mailbox owners are likely to have good financial capacity. These are active email addresses, most of which end with tencongty.com, tencongty.com.vn, hn.vnn.vn, hcm.vnn.vn, fpt.vn, hotmail.com, yahoo.com…”. However, according to an owner of an email service called quangcaotructuyen…, who sells 6 million email addresses for 100 USD, the list is accumulated from hacking forums and websites of businesses and individuals.
Currently, most services of this type offer customers optional email sending software, in the form of text files, HTML, audio, images… with a sending speed of 1,000-2,000 addresses per minute. Additionally, services updating email addresses and providing software for automatically searching emails, priced from 100,000 to 500,000 VND, are also widely advertised.
However, this spam advertising method is often met with strong opposition from the majority of Internet users, as it not only causes annoyance but also poses a high risk of viruses through this form. Moreover, the continuous hacking of forums and websites leading to personal information leaks has made many email users wary.
Ms. My Chi, a sales employee, expressed: “It is incredibly frustrating to wait for an email only to receive a notification of new mail, and when I open it, it’s a spam message advertising various pharmaceuticals like Viagra. Not to mention the dozens of other spam emails I have to clean out every day, with content ranging from introducing computer parts stores to travel tours and cheap software sales from who knows where.”
According to Mr. Truong Van Hoang, owner of an Internet cafe in District 8 (Ho Chi Minh City), spam often grabs attention due to enticing subject lines, provocative images, or strangely formatted attachments. This poses a danger for Internet users who enjoy exploring new things but lack computer knowledge. “There are some software options that allow for spam blocking, but most users do not take the initiative to figure it out and implement it“, Mr. Hoang stated.
Due to the many opposing opinions on spam, many potential advertisers have shown hesitation due to the potential backlash of online promotional campaigns. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam, owner of a computer shop in Go Vap District (Ho Chi Minh City), stated: “This method allows for the easiest access to the target audience, and it’s very cheap. However, spam is an issue that annoys Internet users, and promoting this way does not give me peace of mind, as I personally hate spam.”
From the perspective of service providers, Mr. Tien Phuc believes: “Most customers do not agree with spam, but this does not mean they refuse to engage. Whether the promotion annoys customers depends on the content of the information and the wording used. We always apologize to mailbox owners if we cause any inconvenience.”
According to Mr. Tien Phuc, this service is completely legal since there is no anti-spam law in Vietnam. However, sending millions of emails simultaneously from a single server significantly increases the likelihood of being blocked by internet service providers (ISPs). To counter this issue, service providers have quickly designed automatic programs to detect empty hosts to send emails.
Ngoc Hang
