I love Flickr as much as the next Web 2.0 guy, but I am just a bit annoyed with the marketing spam that I received from then the other day. Here is a copy of the email:
Hi <me>
Your Flickr Pro account expired on . You have 1453 photos
but you're now only seeing the last 200!
Perhaps you'd like to renew your Pro account?
You'll even get 3 months free for purchasing before 30
September 2008!
You can learn more here:
http://flickr.com/yay/
The Flickreenos
******************************
Please do not reply to this message. This is a service
email related to your use of Flickr. To learn more about
Flickr's use of personal information please read our
Privacy Policy. Flickr is located at Flickr c/o Yahoo!, 701
First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
Go to Privacy Policy:
http://flickr.com/privacy_
OK, here is the thing... note the message on the bottom:
"This is a service email related to your use of Flickr."
Now, how is advising me to upgrade to a Pro Account, and providing me a link (which redirects here http://www.flickr.com/upgrade/) a "service announcement" and therefore something I MUST get from Yahoo!? There are some laws regarding CANSPAM that specifically say you cannot hide a marketing message behind a "service announcement"." I even went to Yahoo! marketing communications section of my account and could only find reference to Yahoo! Photos, a product they no longer even have!
So, I took the next logical step and hope everyone will join me (if you got something like this).
Go here:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
fill out a complaint, and hope that Yahoo! learns its lesson. I mean, I know they are suffering because of the Microsoft takeover attempt (which, as a shareholder, I voted against), but that doesn't mean they need to stoop to creepy, marketing spam. Who is in charge of policy there now anyway? Bozo the home renovator?
sheesh.
