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AT&T turns to text spam to sell American Idol
TechBlog —
... reasons. If you pay per text, it can cost you money. Text messages tend to have a certain urgency about them, so people feel compelled to look at an incoming message when it arrives. If it's spam, users feel duped. And finally, a cell phone is a very personal thing, and getting an unwanted ad on it feels intrusive and invasive. With that in mind, I have to ask: What the heck was AT&T thinking when it spammed its own customers with ads for Tuesday night's American Idol premiere? From the New York Times: AT&T, a sponsor of the show, said it sent text messages to a "significant ...
AT&T Texting Customers American Idol Spam
Gearlog —
... According to The New York Times, the message urged subscribers to "Get ready for American Idol," directing them to a Web site and promoting a sweepstakes. The company didn't charge users for the message, and let them know that they could opt out of receiving future ones by texting "Stop." ...
AT&T's 'American Idol' SMS Decried As Spam
Phone Scoop - Latest News —
... subscribers to tune into the broadcast and also pointed users to a Web site where they could find more details. It also told subscribers how to unsubscribe from receiving such messages. Customers quickly complained about the message and its content, calling it unsolicited spam. AT spokesperson Mark Siegel said, "We want people to watch the show and participate. It makes perfect sense to use texting to tell people about a show built on texting." AT is a major sponsor of the show. more info at New York Times ...
AT&T spamming subscribers with American Idol text message ads
Obsessable News Feed —
... How would you feel if Obsessable started emailing or text messaging you about all our latest stories just because you visited the site a few times? Like you were being spammed? That's the gist of what millions of AT&T customers are going through, now that the company is sending out unsolicited text message advertisements for American Idol. ...
Quote of the Day: Joe from Bradenton, FL
ClickZ News Blog —
... about an unsolicited SMS he received from AT&T.; AT&T; sent the mass text message to promote the latest season of the show, which it sponsors, according to a New York Times report. ...
Two Million AT&T Customers Got Idol Text Ad
Bits —
A text message that AT&T Wireless sent out advertising Tuesday night’s season premier of “American Idol” went out to roughly 2 million of the company’s 75 million subscribers, according to Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. A number of recipients of the message have criticized AT&T Wireless for sending the message; unsolicited text messages usually are seen as violating cell-phone etiquette and obviously are far less common than ads sent via e-mail. When consumer criticism first emerged on Monday , Mr. Siegel said that AT&T Wireless had sent the messages to a ...
AT&T spams subscribers with "Idol" text message
Yahoo! Tech Advisors —
... much more. Reply stop to end mktg msgs You bet I replied "stop"—and I'm sure many fellow AT subscribers did so as well, judging from the angry response on Twitter and elsewhere. (Example tweets: "Really AT ? I'm paying U over $100 a month & U still think its cool 2 send me text messages advertising American Idol?" … "If AT wants to waive my $95 monthly mobile bill, it can send me unsolicited American Idol ads. Otherwise, bad form today folks.") AT Wireless spokesman Mark Siegel told the New York Times that the message was merely a "friendly ...
AT&T Testing the Waters with American Idol Spam Texts [Spam]
Gizmodo —
... think companies aren't willing to pay for text ads? I guarantee someone out there is trying to work up a deal where they pay in bulk for 10,000,000 texts so they can advertise their new movie. And yeah, it'll be legal because it won't cost the end-user anything and they'll be able to opt out of ads from that company, but then another company will do it. And another. Spam is already the scourge of email. Don't ruin texting for us too, AT&T.; Your customers won't stand for it. [NY Times]
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Australian Regulator Sues Text Spammers For First Time
mocoNews —
... reports that the telco is now claiming messages were sent to 2 million people, or 3 percent of its customer base. It previously said that messages had been sent to a "significant number" of its customers…I suppose technically a single customers could be considered "significant", but it's really removing any meaning from the word in this context. It also said the messages couldn't be classified as spam because they were free to receive—which is a change in the definition of spam. Mind you, I also have to take issue with the CIO for Spamhaus ...
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