Oh, here I go again.... sticking my nose in.
Once again, we are looking for a technology solution to a user problem.
First, my $.02 (as always).... I'll be DAMNED if I'm sending Bill Gates, or ANYONE, for that matter, money for sending e-mail from MY OWN E-MAIL SERVER, which I run, maintain, pay for the power for, etc. Oh, plus pay for internet connectivity to begin with.
The question is, why all the spam???? BECAUSE IT WORKS! Now, I hate spam just as much as everyone else, I don't need a larger... umm.... anatomy, and I don't have performance problems with it, my car, my stocks, or anything else. Spam is a big problem... BUT....
As long as people keep clicking on it, we'll get more of it. There's a very good article on MSNBC's site at
called "Who profits from spam? Surprise" and you find that there's a market for spam. The article details responding to a spam with traceable information about "lowest prices on a home loan", and surprise, within 4 days, they get e-mails from Ameriquest, Quicken Loans, LoanWeb, and Ivy Mortgage!
Does that mean that Ameriquest is sending out spam directly? No, they get it from "lead generators".... and they will pay big bucks ($100 per closed lead). So, let's do the math... send out 1 Million Spams, only 1/2% click on them for more information, that's 5000 leads, out of those 5000 leads (who have already stated they're interested in a loan), say maybe 1% actually close the deal.... 50 people, times $100... $5000 for one spamming. Not bad business, in the grand scheme of things. And those are conservative numbers...
The reality of it is, the ONLY way to completely stop spam is to stop making it profitable. Bounce it, reject it, delete it, but DON'T use it, no matter how good the deal.
OK, that was about $.04
--Greg
