Slashdot Mirror


Celebrating Spam's Ten-Year Anniversary

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."

1 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by marsvin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    - The DMA recommends junk mail

    - Anti-virus companies warn about the threat of viruses

    - FSF recommends Free Software

    - Slashdot user promotes Linux