New Service Tries Organizing Chaotic E-Mail Lists
February 23, 1999
Business News Archives
A new service being launched on Tuesday will
offer a comprehensive directory and free hosting
service for hundreds of thousands of e-mail
lists on the Internet, in an attempt to turn them into a
medium for advertising and direct marketing.
Topica Inc., the company starting the service,
will offer free software and support for those who
operate the Internet's ubiquitous e-mail lists,
which are usually single-topic discussion threads on
narrow topics like "BMW motorcycle maintenance"
or "Ally McBeal lovers."
Like the World Wide Web, e-mail lists are
rambunctious, rambling electronic message strings and
bits of data sent between millions of PC users
around the world.
Unlike the Web, the estimated 200,000 e-mail
lists on thousands of topics have never been
organized in one place or put into a form that
could make them commercially viable.
Topica is proposing much the same process that
Yahoo! Inc. brought to Web sites when it started
its service nearly five years ago to list and
review Web sites.
The existence of Yahoo and similar search
engines played a critical role in the development of the
Web, ushering in the hypergrowth that's been
virtually nonstop for the past five years.
Topica founder Ariel Poler argues that e-mail
lists could have similar growth potential, with
software tools available to make it easier for
people to sign up for topics that interest them.
"Owners can promote their lists through Topica's
extensive list directory," he said. "Before this it's
been pretty much word of mouth."
Brian Behlendorf, chief technology officer for
O'Reilly Publishing, and co-founder of the Apache
Group and Organic Online, called Topica "the
'extra-strength aspirin' for the headaches associated
with owning and managing an e-mail list."
There are now 15 million to 20 million members
of e-mail lists, but with 100 million e-mail users,
that total could grow sharply.
Those who "subscribe" to the lists create
content by sending public messages that all members can
see. List "owners" manage the lists and monitor
the flow to make sure items remain on topic.
The lists groups are notoriously private and
often unfriendly to those who crash their e-mail
discussions, especially if they make off-topic
or irrelevant postings. That has presented a challenge
to anybody trying to organize or commercialize
them.
"We'll have to tread very lightly," said Poller,
a veteran Internet advertising executive. "We've seen
other start-ups try this and fail because they
were not sensitive to the way the system works."
Poler said that he has acquired agreements to
use lists of three groups that have compiled "lists of
e-mail lists." In addition, he said that his
advisory board includes some well known list advocates.
Poler also expects to get backing from e-mail
list owners because Topica will offer free technical
help, free list hosting, message archiving and
promotion services, and management tools like usage
statistics. And the group will also offer a
simple method for users to start their own lists.
Topica has set up its Web site
(http://www.topica.com) operation in the Internet design and editorial
production district of San Francisco south of
Market Street. With 32 employees and nearly $5
million in investment backing, the group is
compiling and reviewing e-mail lists.
Investors in the service include August Capital,
Highland Capital Partners, Draper Richards, L.P.
and Stanford University.
