Ben Edelman’s revelation that Vonage customer acquisition is built around spyware advertising leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Before the IPO it might have been explainable as the actions of a few overzealous affiliates, but in the post IPO era, the recipients of those ad dollars are available for anyone to see.
One wonders how long a business model built on customer acquisition via spyware can be sustained.Â
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
