The bema FAQs Commonly asked questions about email, bema, and all other related topics. (This section is updated often, last update: 04/17/2007 12:11:23 PM EST)
What is Double Opt-In?
Double Opt-In is actually an email from a real live recipient that has elected to receive offers from a 1st Party company. The user will receive an email confirmation, once the user clicks the confirm link or mechanism they are now "Double Opt-In".
What is the definition of SPAM?
SPAM, BULK or unsolicited means that the recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substanstantially identical content. A message is Spam only if it is both Unsolicited and Bulk. For more information on "The Definition of SPAM" visit SPAMHAUS.
After my scrubbing is finished what can I expect?
Once the import is done and the list is compared to our global, suppression, spam, out-dated, bounced, and mal-formed lists as well as comparing to blacklists from every other company that we do business with (over 100 and counting). The data will be split into 5 ".CSV" files or comma separated values. The 1st file will contain the new good addresses, the 2nd file will contain all that was removed from that file because of invalid subscription status (customer has opted-out), the 3rd file will contain all that was removed for bouncing, the 4th file will contained all the complaints generated by the emails, the 5th will contain all filtered traps. By request we can keep the other files on-hand and only upload the good clean file to the ftp site.
Will I be losing a large portion of my data when I clean it?
It is possible and has been seen to lose as much as 60-90% of a really old or dirty list, these are usually not the case with good well managed 1st Party Lists. The average with a good clean list will be around 25-50% loss.
How often should I SCRUB my lists? bema recommends that you SCRUB a clean list atleast once per month. This seems like a huge undertaking but it will avoid costly problems down the road that could lead to worse problems and even blacklisting.
What is the real benefit of being a bemamember and/or paying for badges or seals? bema seals are credible emblems that signify the integrity and honesty of your company, whether it be an Opt-In email company, a newsletter service, a full-service ESP, a Publisher or an Ad-Agency. These seals are recognized by over 125 companies and will become a standard in the DM industry. If you want more information about the benefits of bema see the What is Bema? section of our site.
How can I verify that a bemaseal/badge is valid? Unlike the badges seen on bema's site the real live versions of these seals are clickable, and they link back to bema's site to validate. If the badge is invalid it should not link back to the right page, if it does and appears like any of these examples, please report the website where the badge/seal was seen to admin@bemanetwork.com.
"http://www.bemanetwork.com/index.php?bemaID=" - This means someone is faking a badge with no ID
"http://www.bemanetwork.com/" - This is most likely a stolen badge
"http://www.bemanetwork.com/index.php" - This is most likely a stolen badge "http://www.bemanetwork.com/index.php?" - This means someone is faking a badge "http://www.bemanetwork.com/badges/www.domain.com/bemaID/" - Close but no cigar, this is still missing the ID which is the only way the sites can be validated.
These all link back to bema's home page (except for the last one) and that is not valid at all, but it is a common way to steal or fake our badges. Each seal should have a link like the one below.
"http://www.bemanetwork.com/badges/www.domain.com/bemaID/?bemaID=bemaID"
Additionally please note that all badge/seals will be hosted on bemanetwork.com and the image path is always as follows: "http://www.bemanetwork.com/badges/www.domain.com/bemaID/badgetype.jpg"
(Note:bemaID will be the actual bemaID for that customer/member/site , badgetype.jpg would be the image for the badge/seal, and the domain.com would be the domain it should be placed on.)
What is Affirmative Consent to send commercial email, how is that defined by each set of laws? (Defined by the U.S. CAN SPAM Act of 2003): The recipient expressly consented to receive the message, either in response to a clear and conspicuous request for such consent or at the recipient's own initiative; and if the message is from a party other than the party to which the recipient communicated such consent, the recipient was given clear and conspicuous notice at the time the consent was communicated that the recipient's electronic mail address could be transferred to such other party for the purpose of initiating commercial electronic mail messages.
(Defined by the European Commission Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive): Within the context of an existing customer relationship (where a natural or legal person obtains from its customers their electronic contact details for electronic mail, in the context of the sale of a product or a service), it is reasonable to allow the use of electronic contact details for the offering of similar products or services, but only by the same company that has obtained the electronic contact details in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC*. When electronic contact details are obtained, the customer should be informed about their further use for direct marketing in a clear and distinct manner, and be given the opportunity to refuse such usage. This opportunity should continue to be offered with each subsequent direct marketing message, free of charge, except for any costs for the transmission of this refusal.
*From Directive 95/46/EC: Consent shall mean any freely given specific and informed indication of his wishes by which the data subject signifies his agreement to personal data relating to him being processed.
What is commercial email?
Email messages, sent in volume, the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a product or service. This is also considered BULK email.
What exactly is unsolicited commercial email in simple terms please? Commercial email sent without prior consent. That is as simple as it gets.
What makes bema so much better than other companies like it?
First of all , we don't make any claims stating "we are the best" or "nobody does it better" , because we don't believe in doing business that we way. bema is an association built on experience. We are a highly-skilled core-group of experts,veterans, and some of the brightest talent from anti-organizations accross the globe, to protect and serve you and the end-user.
Do you work with 3rd party mailers?
It depends on what level ESP you are regarding whether or not you may get accepted by bema for membership reasons, however if you are an ESP of any size we do encourage the referral of our services and or site. This will only benefit an ESP of any size due to the fact that we can help avoid blacklistings by cleaning lists, you can utilize our research system and query our database to find out more about mailers that want to do business with you, and see if they might hurt more than they are worth.
Who isn't allowed to join? Everyone is allowed to join bema either as a company or individual. Company accounts are $200 (for a limited time!) and get access to 3 login names and 3 access points (Access points are IP specific points that a company or individual can connect to bema's secure channels through, corporate accounts are given three, individuals have 1.) Individual accounts are $100 (for a limited time!) and have 1 login and 1 access point. For more information check our contact section.
How can I become an affiliate and advertise what bema is trying to do for this industry? You can send us an email at admin@bemanetwork.com, someone will respond as we receive these. Please include a contact name, website url, how many active members you currently have and what method of advertising you are expecting to use.
Can I get my badge in any image format I want, my site doesn't have a white background color? Yes and no. bema offers two formats currently ".GIF" and ".JPG" the gif files are transparent and are recommend for all sites without a white background, the jpg is a higher quality and better resolution and is recommend for all sites with a white background.
First we Scrub out all the screamers (FBLs, Black lists domains / emails).
Then we Scrub out all the bounces.
The third step is to Scrub out all the unsubscribes. (This includes some screamers as a lot of users like to unsubscribe rather then black list, and this data is pooled from ALL of our members daily.)
Run a Scrub-filter of admin, hostmaster, abuse, etc… + special algorithmic queries looking at the characteristics of the email and ranking it as a possible complaint. Such as emails with five or more numbers, etc..
How often is the Scrub file updated, and how big is it? The Scrub file is updated as often as 10 times a day, by our network of over 100 of the top email providers in the country. The file itself is very large and it's actual filesize as of 4/13/2007 is 1.89 GB(subject to change) , containing over 100 million rows of data.
Why are there so many spam-traps in my list, and where did they come from anyway? Did SPAMHAUS Opt-In to my list somehow, and is that even fare and ethical tactics if they did? Truth is that SPAMHAUS DOES NOT, under any circumstances Opt-In to any mailings lists. SPAMHAUS.org and it's SBL,PBL,XBL, and ROKSO listings are all created on the basis that something SPAMMY/or possibly Illegal is happening otherwise they wouldn't notice you. Spam-traps are email accounts that have been setup specially to collect emails and forward that information back to SPAMHAUS to update it's lists and to possible block some real SPAM. If you have traps in your list it is likely that this list was not a 1st party list or is combined with other sources that you did not collect yourself, it contains randomly generated email addresses most of which (by now) have been countered and there most likely a trap waiting in that inbox, or your Opt-In "COI" is not setup properly and you may have false-Opt-Ins on your list.
What in the world is "COI"?
"COI" stands for Confirmed Opt-In , and should be the standards that all 1st Party List owners utilize to validate any, and all Opt-Ins. It is very simple to follow the recommended "COI" procedures they are as follows:
User visits site willingly, and decides to join your group, newsletter, promotions group, or contest/sweepstakes.
The user then receives a visual web-based confirmation stating that they will receive an email confirming the subscription request. This page should also contain links to an unsubscribe, privacy policies, and terms of use.
The user will then get an email from you with a confirmation url in it, once the user clicks the link to verify that they still want to receive mail from you, they are now Double Opt-In using the "COI" method.
I don't understand what a false-Opt-In is, can you explain this? A false-Opt-In is quite simply a user that said yes only once, and was never even offered a method of saying no or unsubscribing at the time of subscription. This is what the industry used to refer to as a Single-Opt-In. This method was not effective in the past and all you will accomplish is annoying your clients, and making the authorities come after you. We highly recommend that you follow all "COI" procedures and adhere strictly to state,country, and international laws.
Why do you capture my IP address and have such tight security on your forms pages? We collect your IP address as a security and fraud protection to you and our customers. Please rest assured that you will not be punished for visiting our site, we are simply trying to keep everyone safe. Please read our updated Privacy Policy for more information on what is done with this information.
