Avoiding Words that Trigger Spam Filters

"I've noticed you have been using a number of euphemisms and alternate spellings for such simple, potential spammer words as free, spam, N!gerian, etc. Have you been able to confirm that without these your newsletter would be labeled spam and rejected by spam-filters? Have you compiled a list of such 'evil' words that you could publish as a result of your investigations. As a publisher, I'd certainly be interested." -- Keith Thirgood, Capstone Communications Group

It is very difficult to assess the full impact of spam filters on e-zine publishers at this point, but it doesn't look encouraging. I was dismayed to read a post by Al Bredenberg to the I-Sales Discussion List on 10/28/02 noting that Cloudmark's SpamNet system filtered out 29 marketing newsletters and commercial lists Al subscribes to, including Doctor Ebiz, ClickZ, Inc.com Connection, Wall Street Journal Tech Alert, and Internet.com's Internet Advertising Report.

You can find more precise information and recommendations in these resources:

• Tim Gross, "Spam Filters Run-Amuck: Is Your Message Getting Through?" Internet Profit Systems. Includes word lists for McAfee Spam Filter (www.iprofitsystems.com/articles/spamfilters.html).
• Debbie Weil, "Clip and Save guide to avoiding sp^m filters," WordBiz Report, 9/25/02. Includes some comments on SpamAssassin as well as many helpful links (www.imakenews.com/wordbiz/e_article000094161.cfm).
• Paul Soltoff, "Spam and Email Filters: Reader Solutions," ClickZ, 9/23/02 (www.clickz.com/article.php/1467431).
• Search on "spam filters" (without the quotation marks) in my Web Marketing Info Center (www.wilsonweb.com/cat/).