Study on the Effects of Spam on End Users

An anonymous reader writes "'About a third of people responded to a spam, seeking more information. And 7 percent actually bought a product or service.' Who are these people? Is this really what non-techies do with Spam? They can have my Spam if they want it :-)"

Comments

Not currently experiencing your concern.

[Shivetya]

I have received over 100 messages in the last 24 hours. Less than a dozen made it through to me.

I had one request for passage of mail, which I accepted as I knew what it was about.

In the whole time I have used Earthlink's challenge system only two businesses have requested permission to be added to my link.

None of the big delivery or sales sites have asked, but I did add them as my daily summary of blocked "suspicious" mail was large.

Earthlink has two categories. know and suspected. it is from suspected that permissions can be asked about. their known spam category does not send out notifications of blocked mail

Getting my permission requires the user/company to follow a link and ask for it. It uses the standard picture challenge technique that some advanced systems can defeat.

In the end I love it, I no longer have to filter at my end. I also have cut down my spam to zero.

I have yet to experience a case of repeated requests. I know I can block them permanently, so unless they roll addresses all the time all they could be at most is a request hassle.

PS: This system is great for those who have grand parents who don't need to see that seedy side of the net. You can setup their address books for them and even review their spam online if they give you the passwords.