Plaxo didn’t get it in 2004 and its recent announcement that it will scale back its spamming reveals it still doesn’t get it in 2006.
Plaxo earned a light of well-deserved scorn for the way it helped its users keep their contact information updated. Essentially after entering your contacts into Plaxo, the service would spam the contacts periodically with e-mails asking users to update their contact information with Plaxo.
And the big change Plaxo announced in March?
…as of a few weeks ago, you should start seeing fewer and fewer of these e-mails, as we’ve shifted our product functionality away from address book update.
Wow, you mean there wasn’t a market in getting people to spam their friends and co-workers? How shocking.
Anyway, notice that people will start seeing “fewer of these e-mails” not “none of these e-mails.” The relentless spam will march on, just in slightly diminished quantities.
The only good thing that Plaxo ever did was serve as a clueless filter. Aside from e-mailing me about this or that MLM scheme, nothing says “clueless” like “Plaxo user.”
Sources:
A Little Less In Your Inbox. Plaxo’s Personal Card (Plaxo Official Weblog), March 20, 2006.
Plaxo Scales Back Automatic E-Mail Feature. Associated Press, March 23, 2006.