• by March 10, 2006

So here's a shocker: Yahoo, Microsoft's Hotmail, and AOL are the predominant delivery channels for opt-in commercial e-mail, according to a survey by Lyris Technologies. The poll by the e-mail marketing solutions provider found that 26 percent of American Internet users are receiving opt-in commercial e-mails via Yahoo, 21 percent via Hotmail, and 13 percent via AOL. The poll also found that only 8 percent of American Internet users are receiving opt-in commercial e-mails via their work e-mail accounts.

Lyris attributes the fact that fewer American consumers are using work e-mail accounts as the delivery vehicle for opt-in commercial e-mails to the rapid adoption of high-speed Internet access at home and increasing consumer comfort in managing multiple e-mail accounts.

The poll also found that 30 percent of American Internet users have only one e-mail account, 37 percent have two e-mail accounts, 19 percent have three e-mail accounts, and 13 percent have four or more e-mail accounts. Juggling multiple accounts is rapidly becoming the norm.

Lyris' poll results were based on 126 responses from a nationally representative sample based on age, gender, and income. The poll was conducted in January 2006. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 8.7 percent.