Postal Service Plan: Kill Trees, Annoy People, Lose Money

There has been one silver lining to the rise of Internet spam: It is easier to get rid of than old-fashioned junk mail. Unfortunately, the U.S. Postal Service wants to step up the assault on your real-world mailbox.

Desperate to escape its financial sinkhole, the Postal Service has begun offering discounts to companies and direct-mail marketers that step up their use of unsolicited letters, which last year amounted to 84 billion credit-card offers, Coldwater Creek catalogs and so forth. Its website has a handy new section called Every Door Direct Mail to make it easier for small business to send citizens a flood of solicitations. Postmaster General Bob Donahoe belittled online alternatives to the New York Times: “You can advertise on Facebook, but I don’t see how you can trace the number of ‘likes’ to return on investment.”

via Postal Service Plan: Kill Trees, Annoy People, Lose Money – Bloomberg.