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DoubleClick Sponsored Study Shows Consumer Email Habits are Adapting In Response to Spam

Legitimate Email Continues to Drive Multi-Channel Purchases as Consumers
Increase Use of Bulk Folders and Filtering to Limit Spam

NEW YORK, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — DoubleClick Inc.
(Nasdaq: DCLK), the leading provider of marketing tools for advertisers,
direct marketers and web publishers, today announced the results of its fourth
annual Consumer Email Study at the DMA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.
The study reveals an increasing sophistication in consumer usage of email and
in fighting spam, and shows, despite the spam crisis, a continued acceptance
of legitimate commercial email which continues to drive multi-channel
purchasing.

How Consumers Are Coping with Spam

Consistent with the 2002 study, spam remained the number one concern
consumers have about their inbox (89% cited spam as their number one concern).
Email volume was up slightly from last year’s levels (264 emails per week
versus 254 in 2002), although the ratio of spam (56%) remained constant. This
may be due an increased use in bulk folders which are now used by 52.9% of
respondents versus 48.8% in 2002. Consumers are also demonstrating an
increasing sophistication in how they are dealing with spam. A greater number,
(65% versus 60% in 2002) are deleting spam without reading it, and only 4% are
reading it to determine whether it might be of interest (versus 5% in 2002 and
18% in 2001).

When asked about how they are dealing with spam, in addition to the
increased use of bulk folders, 36.1% of consumers use a report spam function
of their email program, 15.9% have downloaded spam filtering software and
13.7% have created a second email address for making online purchases.

How Consumers Define Spam

When asked about how they define spam, 95.5% of consumers cite "emails
intended to trick me into opening them," 93.5% cite "emails from senders that
are unknown to me," and 92.5% cite "emails of an offensive subject matter."
Significantly the study shows that men have a much broader definition of
spam than women. Sixty-five percent of men cited "an email from a company
that I have done business with but comes too often" as an example of spam,
while only 56% of women agreed with this statement. Sixty-one percent of men
cited "an email that may have been permission based but comes too frequently"
while only 55% of women agreed that that statement defines spam. Thirty-six
percent of men cited "any email that tries to sell me a product or service"
should be considered spam, compared with 32% of women. Correspondingly, women
are more sensitive than men to emails of an offensive subject matter with 94%
of women considering offensive email to be spam, compared to 91% of men.
These differences suggest that women are more sensitive to pornographic and
offensive emails than men, but also, as the primary shopper in most
households, women may be more tolerant of email marketing in general.

Email Remains a Popular Communication Channel

Despite the current email environment and the proliferation of spam, email
remains a popular channel for consumers and an effective channel for
marketers. The vast majority (91%) of consumers receive some form of
permission-based email with 57.2% receiving special offers from online
merchants, 55.4% receiving them from traditional retailers, and 48.5%
receiving them from catalogers. Permission-based email also continues to be
the preferred method of contact from their favorite retailer regarding new
products, services or promotions (preferred by 59% of consumers), while only
32.1% preferred direct mail.

Of categories in which consumers do not currently receive emails,
respondents are most interested in receiving grocery coupons (cited by 22.1%)
and household tips/recipes/crafts (13.6%). Other categories of strong
interest were electronics and computer software/hardware (13.8%) and
apparel/shoes (12.3%).

The "from" line continues to be the most compelling reason to open
permission-based email, cited by 63.3% of all respondents, an increase from
59.9% in 2002, most likely driven by the importance of identifying a sender
and distinguishing legitimate email from spam. Of all types of subject lines,
discount offers are the primary motivational factor for opening permission
based email (increased to 59.5% of all respondents from 56.7% in
2002), while compelling news and information fell from 57.6% of all
respondents to 48.6% in 2003.

"The encouraging news from this year’s study is that consumers are clearly
differentiating between spam and legitimate commercial email," said Scott
Knoll, Vice President and General Manager of DoubleClick’s Marketer Solutions
Division, speaking at the DMA Annual Conference. "However, it is also clear
that marketers must continue to tailor the content, targeting and frequency of
their messages to remain successful marketing through the email channel."

Email Continues to Drive Multi-Channel Purchases

The 2003 study shows permission-based emails are a significant driver of
purchases, not only online but also through catalogs and in retail stores.
Two-thirds (65%) of respondents have made a purchase as a result of an email
that they received from a retailer, cataloger or online merchant. Although
email typically drives online purchasing, the study shows that email also has
a significant impact on purchases in retail stores and through catalogs and
call centers.

Most action taken in response to email marketing does not result
immediately from the click. While 27% of consumers have clicked through and
made a purchase during that same online session, an even greater number
(33.6%), have clicked through to find out more information then purchased
online at a later date. An additional 12.2% clicked through to find more
information and then purchased offline through catalog or retail. Because
consumers often click through an email but purchase at a later time online or
offline, this activity may go unaccounted for unless the marketer is analyzing
email performance over time and across all of these channels.

The channel where a purchase is made as a result of permission-based email
is highly specific to the category of product: 70% of consumers that
purchased travel services, as a result of receiving a permission-based email,
did so online, with only 13% purchasing by catalog/phone/mail. Fifty-eight
percent purchased apparel/shoes online, with 41% purchasing via offline retail
and 23% via catalog. Over the counter and prescription drugs had equal levels
of online and retail purchase at 32%.

Methodology

The 2003 Consumer Email Study is the fourth in an annual series sponsored
by DoubleClick and conducted by Beyond Interactive via the NFO//net source
panel of 900,000 US consumers. One thousand consumers that use email at least
once per week (statistically 94% of the US adult online population) were
polled between July 30 and August 5, 2003. There was an equal segmentation of
men and women and the average age was 42.7.

For more information on this survey, please visit: http://www.doubleclick.net

About DoubleClick Inc.

DoubleClick is the leading provider of tools for advertisers, direct
marketers and web publishers to plan, execute and analyze their marketing
programs. DoubleClick’s online advertising, email marketing and database
marketing solutions help clients yield the highest return on their marketing
dollar. In addition, the company’s marketing analytics tools help clients
measure performance within and across channels. DoubleClick Inc. has global
headquarters in New York City and maintains 22 offices around the world.

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