Google has launched a new pilot program to keep political campaign emails out of spam folders for Gmail users.
Google told Axios that it was launching a controversial new pilot program to keep campaign emails out of spam folders this week. The program was announced back in June and allows candidates, political party committees, and leadership political action committees to apply for spam folder exemptions.
Google is working on a way to ensure emails from US political campaigns reach users’ Gmail inboxes instead of automatically getting dumped into the spam folder. The company has asked the Federal Election Commission for approval on a plan to make emails from “authorized candidate committees, political party committees and leadership political action committees registered with the FEC” exempt from spam detection, as long they abide by Gmail’s rules on phishing, malware and illegal content.
Lots of people are hopping mad about Google’s proposal to allow political campaign emails to bypass the spam folders of Gmail users. The dispute arose earlier this summer after Google asked the Federal Elections Commission for advice on the legality of a “pilot program” to make it easier for political organizations to contact voters. The FEC has extended the deadline for public comment until Aug. 5, and the responses so far make plain that the idea has few fans among Gmail users.
This program will be available to select google mail users in the US. and UK. For more details, please click here.
