The World Data "Fall 2006 List Price Index" report found that B2B e-mail list prices decreased in October by an average of $4 per thousand compared with a year ago.
At a time when many costs are rising, a 1.4% decrease is welcome news.
It is also good news for World Data who predicted this trend.
"Last year, we forecast that Email pricing could drop significantly during 2006 due to changes in ESP delivery methods as well as demand and performance," said the company's Ray Tesi. "As predicted, Email CPM's have decreased by as much as $6.00 per thousand."
As far as pricing for particular types of lists in October, World Data found that permission-based B2B e-mail was the highest-priced category, with an average price of $277 per thousand — which represents a slight decrease of $4 per thousand over last year.
Newsletters were the second-highest-priced category, with an average cost of $178 per thousand, also a decrease, however, of $3 per thousand from last year.
"Email must continually lower [its] CPM's in order to make list rentals cost-effective for marketers," said Mr. Tesi.