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Celebrating Spam's Ten-Year Anniversary

Posted by michael on from the hurray-i-think dept.

khalua writes "Netcraft has a story that 10 years ago today, the first widely recognized spam was sent by... oh the irony...a law firm. Hate to see what a beast it grows into when it's 20." Reader prostoalex writes "Ever wonder why spam is so prevalent and who buys all those revolutionary products sold at unbelievable prices? Direct Marketing Association estimates $11.7 billion was spent on goods and services pitched via unsolicited e-mail. The average buy was $155, which exceeds the average of $114 that opt-in e-mail generated. It's worth noting that US e-commerce sales in general generated $50 billion total last year, however, the data was presented by a different researcher."

4 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. $11.7 billion... by Walkiry · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ever heard the phrase "follow the money"? Yes? Well, that's what they should be doing with Spam.

    --
    ---- Take the Space Quiz!
  2. Celebration? by lake2112 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is no way that we should ever "celebrate" spam ... Maybe we can celebrate the eradication of spam, but never the anniversary.

  3. Re:kinda scary... by MCZapf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lots of people, sadly. Pretend you are not so web-savvy. Now pretend you need viagra. You've been thinking about buying some, but are too ashamed to do so. Then a nice offer arrives in your email - with a "discounted" price! You can order it from the privacy of your own home. This might be enough to get you to buy.

  4. We're aiming at the wrong people by $lingBlade · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apparently we've been trying to stop spam by targeting the wrong people. It seems to me that if we want to stop spam, we need to remove, inhibit or embarrass the people who actually BUY their products as a result of the spam they receive...

    now go ahead and mod me flaimbait or troll you useless dickweeds!