forward to a friend e-mails, current thinking

[Forum User]

What is the current thinking on the classic forward to a friend e-mails approach? Where you have a link on your newsletter asking current subscribers to enter a friends name in a web page, which generates a note to the target saying "your friend sallly thought you'd like to subscribe to this, please confirm" and even include a personal note from sally. Is that considered okay, or are people starting to call this spam? There is an easy way to do this with GetResponse confirmation messaging, so thought I'd check first.

[Forum User]

Hello Michael,

Such possibility when a person may enter friend's
name is not a feature that will be added as it will
generate more spam complaints and the ratio of
subscriptions is not likely to rise. It is so due to
the reasons you have mentioned: people do not
like it when someone provides their email addresses
thus they are likely to file spam complaint against
list owner though the list owner was not a person
that provided the name in the first place.

Best regards,
GetResponse Support Team

[Forum User]

Thanks for thoughts on this. Interesting. I noticed after I sent this that one reputable, very large e-mail marketing company (ReturnPath) still recommends this. I guess the market is not in agreement on this? I also noticed CAN-SPAM still thinks it is okay if the forwarder is not reimbursed for the lead. Has your company had some negative experiences, or is your recommendation mostly conjecture. Thanks.

> Hello Michael,
>
> Such possibility when a person may enter friend's
> name is not a feature that will be added as it will
> generate more spam complaints and the ratio of
> subscriptions is not likely to rise. It is so due to
> the reasons you have mentioned: people do not
> like it when someone provides their email addresses
> thus they are likely to file spam complaint against
> list owner though the list owner was not a person
> that provided the name in the first place.
>
> Best regards,
> GetResponse Support Team

[Forum User]

Hello Michael,

Thank you for your reply.

The market may not always agree on things as each
side will look at the better option for themselves. It
may seem that by forbidding our customers to enter
friend's name without their prior consent we are
lowering the number of people using the services.

However, we do it for the suctomer's sake as the
number of spam complaints lowers and the highest
possible deliverability rate is maintained. Yes, this is
our experince that says the number of spam complaints
raises in such situations.

Best regards,
GetResponse Support Team