EmailChannel Inc. this week unveiled a free service for consumers called MyMailMutt, which lets registered users manage their inflow of commercial e-mail messages.
The MyMailMutt service assigns the consumer a unique e-mail address that they can use when signing up for subscriptions and offers. This e-mail address keeps the consumer anonymous and acts as an inbox for all commercial e-mail. At the end of each day, EmailChannel sends the user a single e-mail that summarizes their commercial messages and provides links for them to access the messages.
The service is free for marketers who can submit their message or offer to the Boca Raton, FL, company through its MailMutt commercial search engine service. Marketing messages will be served through EmailChannel's non-sponsored search results.
Through MailMutt's bid-for-position auction system, marketers can pay for placement and have their messages appear higher on the search results page. They only pay the bid price when the summary link of their message is clicked on and the detail of the message is viewed.
“It's essentially a document management system for e-mail,” said Ryan Clement, vice president of Internet products for EmailChannel. “It expands the reach for a marketer's message.”
The e-mail that consumers receive summarizing their commercial messages features three-line descriptions of the message categorized by type and category. It also indexes the content of the messages for keyword searches. The e-mails are delivered in HTML format.
Consumers an also use the service to block certain e-mails by keyword, sender, subject line or category. Consumers can register to use the MyMailMutt service at www.mailmutt.com.
Clement said EmailChannel will use the service to gather metrics on how consumers react to commercial e-mail messages and when that data “reaches critical mass.” The company will make the data available to marketers for a price.
