Marco Bertozzi:10.01.10
Today I bought a couple of things online, one from a major retailer and one from a smaller online company. The experience was pretty good in both cases except one thing, I was again asked to opt out of receiving endless email sales materials rather than opt in. What is the comparison? You go to the supermarket to buy some bread and milk and as you arrive at checkout they pile your basket high with goods that you have to take out if you don’t want them, who would ever do that? Well except Ryanair and Easyjet with their online ticket buying process!

I find it amazing that I still have to do this, it is one of the most annoying things online. I find it particularly irritating because I have had many a client ask me whether something should be opt in or out and on receiving my advice to make everything opt in, they say ‘well lets leave it as opt out and we will get more names/ numbers or whatever they are after. That’s why it annoys me because they know what they are doing. They are purposely trying to trick you, they have discussed this endlessly and have decided upon the dishonest route.

Today it was Marks and Spencers, yes the home of trust, the company we all say nice things about and yet they too continue to ask me to opt out, well pack it in! Any mainstream, reputable, grown up advertiser should not be doing this, it’s dishonest and is praying on those that don’t know or don’t bother looking through pages of text for the opt out. It’s up there with banking small print. Please.Stop.Opt out.