Thursday, January 13, 2011

Snail mail from Google

Google, the Ultimate Internet company by any standards, is sending out ads to their customers for online seminars... by snail mail!

This is shrewd. We all see so much online advertising now that we've virtually stopped seeing it. But a paper postcard in my mailbox? That I notice.

... Actually I've heard that in the US, people are drowning in catalogues and such junk mail in the post. But fortunately here in the UK, at least for me, there is virtually none such. Don't know why, since in most other respects this country seems to follow the lead of the US.

Back in Denmark there is a bit, but they instituted a clever thing 20 years ago: you can get a little label for your door from the PO, which says you prefer to not get junk mail. The sender has to respect this for it to work, but they have no reason not to, why use money to send to people who really don't want it. Good system.

5 comments:

Miserere said...

yeah Eo, here in the US we are drowning in junk mail. I could make a good living if someone paid me for all the time I spend shredding my and my wife's junk mail.

You'd think that after 4 years, one letter a month, American Express would've figured out I DON'T want one of their cards...

When I think about the trees, and the emissions getting all that crap printed and transported, I weep.

Ray said...

In Canada, it's much the same as the U.S., but our postal people let us put a note or a sticker inside our mailbox requesting "no junk mail" and then anything that's simply addressed "to the householder" or "occupant" goes into the waste bin for recycling. But if it has your actual name and address on it, then you get it delivered anyway. And those credit card companies never give up. One guy says he uses their postage-paid return envelopes to send it all back.
Good idea.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

(Yes, some people even believe in mailing them a *brick* with the envelope on it! They pay for it. )

I'm guessing either it does pay for itself in America, or they are desperate.

ttl said...

If it was hand written, especially with a quill or a calligraphy pen, I'd take notice.

Kentg said...

Here in U.S. I have signed up to get off credit card and junk mail lists and it works for the most part.
When I do get an ad, I call the number and ask them to take me off their mail list and save trees. So far that is very successful and they pay for the call. I also have all my phones on the do not call list. That doesn't stop all calls so I let all calls go on the answer machine and pick up the ones I want.