If email marketers could set the rules for ISPs, what would be different? What would be the characteristics of DreamMail, the ISP of our dreams? (note: there is no connection between this imaginary ISP and any of Epsilon Interactive's various products).

• DreamMail would verify incoming messages with both Sender ID and DKIM. Email marketers would feel safe that no one is forging email and hurting their reputation or deliverability.
  
• Images and links would always be enabled in DreamMail. No one would ever open an email message only to see broken HTML and links. Using images to track opens would be a reliable metric.
  
• Flash and video would work in DreamMail. No longer limited to animated gifs, email would now contain rich media, streaming video, and interactive flash applications.
  
• HTML and CSS would render just like web pages in DreamMail. There would be no more coding a different version with different rules for email. We could use the same modern editing tools and best practices for emails as we do for the web.
  
• JavaScript would execute in DreamMail just like on web pages. This would allow for AJAX and dynamic content inside the email and enable traditional web analytics to integrate with email campaigns.
  
• Forms would work within DreamMail. Rather than always linking to a landing page, we could have a call to action within the email itself and gather responses directly. Combine this with AJAX for email dashboards and control panels.
  
• There would always be clear bounce messages from DreamMail. If a message did not get delivered, we would receive immediate and obvious feedback that followed RFC standards.
  
• DreamMail would have a feedback loop that uses the standard Abuse Reporting Format (ARF). If any recipients clicked the Spam button, the sender would receive an immediate email notification.
  
• DreamMail would provide an Unsubscribe button to users. If the message had a good reputation and contained a List-Unsubscribe header, DreamMail would display an Unsubscribe button to its users.
  
• Registered senders could verify sends, bounces, opens, clicks, spam complaints similar to Microsoft SNDS. It would be easy to verify how much email was sent and what actually got delivered. This information would be available as an XML feed as well.
  
• DreamMail would have a great website that explained how to get good delivery and how to contact them if there is a problem.
  
• DreamMail would proactively notify us of problems and recommend solutions.
  
• DreamMail would have a responsive staff that was available via email or phone.
  

What else would DreamMail, the ISP of your dreams do? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Comments

It would also be cool if the unsubscribe link allowed (or was accompanied by a) "change my subscription address" link, that users could use to modify their involvement without terminating it.

In addition to providing stats on deliverability, it would be handy if there was some number-crunching available too - graphical presentation of percent bounced, etc - success relative to norms (overall and by self-selected product segment or recipient demographic) - trending over time (volume, percenteage, etc) - A/B testing results of the click-thru rates for different campaigns.

Great post, Josh - thanks.

Funny, I actually saw this through Twitter before I got it in my News feed. The world, she is a-changing.

Anyway - would DreamMail make personal whitelisting actually valuable to subscribers, so they would use it and signal which senders they welcome?

Would DreamMail offer a "Cool Stuff" link along with the Report Spam button?

Would DreamMail educate subscribers as to how to protect and manage their inboxes?

- Stephanie

1. While I agree that it would be nice (and even quite possible) to include a video poster frame in an email that, upon activation, would feed a remotely hosted video stream into the email, Flash simply MUST NOT make its way into email. Ever. It adds overheads and cannot be embedded like inline CSS into a message.

2. Be easy on JavaScript - it also adds overheads to the code and might not be a viable solution (would you want to include a Prototype library inline in every email you send to gain a suckefish dropdown?).

3. Forms in an email client are harder to control and would be difficult to script with proper data validation - essentially, they will have to communicate with a back-end database, which means opening a browser. Also, phishing would be like a walk in a park - no need to spoof or masquerade bank domains.

There is a reason email is restrictive, because people who design email clients and advance email also have to run mail servers and spam filters - how would you feel as an ISP if your servers get DDoSed by a million of incoming emails with a 500kb Flash file in each of them? That's like almost 500 TB of data!

Love the post - this would truly be fantastic! However, not to be a killjoy but the reason email is so archaic and ISP's so opaque and cloak 'n dagger is simply because of the few ruining it for the majority. Of course I'm talking about the spammers, phishers and hackers. It seems to be the same everywhere, in any industry - a tiny minority 'incarcerate' the public with their actions. Pointing out the obvious, but the ISP's have to adopt the majority of their practices for the well-being of their customers. For instance, allowing scripting in email - that would just open up a nightmare of possibilities to those who exploit any technology for their own malicious purposes.

A simple example of another industry similarly afflicted would be Air Travel. Can any of you board a plane these days without having undergone a full body cavity search?

It's fantastic to dream, it was good for a laugh, but unfortunately all these ISP practices are here to stay short of some revolutionary new idea to fight the dark side ;)

Thanks for the comments everyone! To Alec and Marco, I agree that we need to be careful about how we enable new features. But at the same time, I think that if we can make Flash and JavaScript safe for the web we can make it safe for email. Both Flash and JavaScript can be linked remotely so there is no need to include them as file attachments.

I think there has been very little true competition for ISPs in a long time (Gmail is the only real innovator since Hotmail) and there are potential benefits to both the consumer and the marketer if we can take the training wheels off of email.

My dream ISP wouldn't do any of this stuff, because they'd put the security of their users ahead of the dreams of marketers.

Oh wait, most of them already do that! Hooray!

DreamMail would also not accept any email that isn't accompanied by a permission certificate from the recipient.

I'm with J.D. Many of those "enhancements" are about screwing over the user in favour of the marketer. A short-sighted deal at best since users don't like be screwed over and tend to react negatively.

Derek

J.D. - I'm really surprised to hear you say that ISPs should not implement ANY of these suggestions - email authentication, use an ARF feedback loop, have an unsubscribe button, give clear bounce messages, or have a responsive postmaster staff. I would think you would be in favor or MOST of them but it feels like you're reacting to one or two of the suggestions by tossing them all out.

Derek - I'm guessing that you are primarily referring to enabling images and links and flash and JavaScript. I don't think this is about screwing over the user at all, but I would agree that we should make sure they are protected and safe.

I think that if this can be done safely its a big WIN for the user and the marketer. Users don't like having images and links disabled - its part of what makes email painful and confusing for users.

So in other words, your "ideal mail" ISP is one that would allow for maximum annoyance of the consumer.

MY ideal ISP would be one where all marketers' DNS requests were forwarded to goatse.cx.

Hoq, and what do you do for a living to be such a smart ass? Go back to your cave and troll there.