unsolicited advertisement

{{Short description|Advertising against the wishes of recipients}}

Unsolicited advertisement comprise all of, but are not limited to:

• Traditional junk mail ("direct mailing", in industry terms)
• Spamming, in particular
• Email spam,
• Telemarketing nuisance calls,
• Junk faxes,
• Unsolicited goods, etc.

for advertising and marketing purposes which are sent without request.{{cite web | last=Blank | first=Chris | title=What Is an Unsolicited Advertisement? | website=Bizfluent | date=2009-05-25 | url=https://bizfluent.com/about-5045938-unsolicited-advertisement.html | access-date=2019-01-17}}

Unsolicited advertising usually violates informational self-determination, when the addresses to which advertising material is delivered have not been explicitly communicated to the sender by the addressee, i.e. no opt-in was done.

The FCC defines "unsolicited advertisement" as:{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

{{blockquote|any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods, or services which is transmitted to any person without that person’s prior express invitation or permission, in writing or otherwise.|FCC{{cite web| url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-16-1414A1.pdf | title=FCC Order DA 16-1414 | access-date=2024-01-26}}}}

Whereas traditional postal advertisements produce huge amounts of waste paper and plastic waste,{{Cite web|url=https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/management/waste/litter-illegal-dumping/junk-mail|title = Unsolicited advertising material (Junk mail) | Littering and illegal dumping}} modern electronic forms consume bandwidth and data storage space.

Various methods exist for prevention of and defense against unsolicited advertisements, including opt-out from email lists, entry in blocking lists, like Robinson lists or the National Do Not Call Registry, etc.. Legislation has produced countermeasures like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.{{Cite web |url=https://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/TCPA-Rules.pdf |title=Telephone Consumer Protection Act 47 U.S.C. § 227 |access-date=2019-01-17 |archive-date=2018-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017041843/https://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/TCPA-Rules.pdf |url-status=dead }}