MUMBAI: Both new age and traditional advertisers in the US have a cause for bone picking when it comes to e-mail spam and intrusive pop-up ads. Thanks to them consumers have got into the habit of using the "delete" button with increasing frequency. They are also losing confidence in traditional forms of advertising such as television, radio.

A consumer intelligence company, PlanetFeedback's survey of opinion leaders in the US found that consumers are increasingly using spam and pop-up ad filters to control the flow of unsolicited advertising to their computer screens, and a growing percentage are simultaneously sympathetic to technologies that filter out television commercials.

The study also found that the more spam and pop-up ads that consumers encounter, the angrier they are about all forms of advertising - online banner ads, pop-under ads, event sponsorships, even radio and television advertising.

Of the 13 per cent who have access to ad-filtering technology (e.g., TiVo and Replay TV), 60 per cent use it, amounting to a potential eight per cent overall loss in TV advertising effectiveness. A spill over effect is created. While slightly more than 10 per cent of respondents consider traditional ad forms - TV, radio and ads, billboards, and event sponsorships -"annoying," their level of annoyance increases with amount of spam received. Nearly 55 per cent of consumers who receive more than 50 spam messages a day are more annoyed by television commercials than those who receive less spam.

Founder and chief marketing officer of PlanetFeedback Pete Blackshaw said, "Spam and intrusive online ad formats threaten the entire advertising space with a trust-eroding, acid-rain effect. We are also witnessing the emergence of a generation of well-trained ad skippers, aided by spam and pop-up filtering programmes. The combination of eroded trust in advertising and accelerated adoption of ad filters has significant financial consequences for advertisers and marketers."

It is also interesting to note that consumers rank word-of-mouth recommendations from others as the most trusted form of advertising, followed by TV, print-ads, and permission-based e-mail. Consumers are also more willing to take drastic action to control or outlaw unsolicited emails. More than one-third support "do-not-email" regulations, 27 per cent support taxes and fines on spam, and nearly 25 per cent support outlawing spam. Less than three per cent support no action.

The study Consumer Trust in Advertising: Spam, Pop-Ups, and ROI also found:
- spam is increasing dramatically, with more than 50 per cent of panel respondents receiving more than 10 unsolicited e-mail messages (definition of spam) a day, and more than 30 per cent of panel respondents receiving 25 every day. Of those who receive spam, 47 per cent kill it immediately, 11 per cent deploy spam-killer programs, and 24 per cent read only the subject line without acting on the message.

- pop-up ads lead all ad forms in levels of annoyance and distrust, followed closely by spam and door-to-door solicitations. Nearly 90 per cent of consumers indicated they are "very annoyed" with pop-up ads, while 97 per cent of consumers feel "furious" or "angry" with pop-up ads that appear without warning on Web sites as they search the Internet. Only two per cent say they click on the ads.

Blackshaw continued elaborating on the problem by saying: "What's striking is the sheer intensity of negative consumer emotion on this issue. While marketers are obsessed with clicks, consumers are clearly ticked. Every marketer looking to maximise returns on investment on advertising effectiveness should be running in-depth studies or focus groups on this topic."