FTC Plugs Web-leads for BPO

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has come down heavily on the business prospects of the BPO again. After pulling down reins on the telemarketing business by banning random calls from the outbound call center, the FTC is now thinking of doing something similar for the Internet business. The FTC is planning to ban the use of Internet cookies to store information that is useful for online shopping and makes it a more personal experience. Internet cookies are also used by call centers to track information about users and visitors that come to the clients’ websites. The information is used for lead generation through email marketing.

This new directive, though still in the nascent stages, is already giving worry creases to call center managers. Just when the BPO units were shifting from a lead generation method based entirely on telemarketing calls to the use of web leads and Internet tools, this bolt from the blue will hit the industry hard. Sales lead generation experts predict that if this new directive comes into play, a major chunk of the Internet revenue will shrink, causing a financial crunch for business process outsourcing units across the world. At present, the Internet users have the choice to disable Internet cookies before they surf online.