Trend Micro TrendSetter January 2009

Way back in 2004, Bill Gates predicted that spam would be gone in two years. Three years after that 2006 deadline, spam has proved to be the Internet version of the cockroach: a ubiquitous and virtually unkillable pest. There's one silver lining of sorts, though. As Internet users grow more sophisticated and email service providers' filters improve at identifying junk mail, spammers are having a harder and harder time finding suckers who will actually respond to their solicitations. Compounding their problems is the fact that spam can be very expensive to send.

Spam can still generate a lot of money, however, if the product they're selling is pricey enough. Researchers at the University of California at San Diego and Berkeley found that an online pharmacy selling drugs like Viagra could expect an average purchase amount of about $100. Even with a miniscule response rate—.0000081 percent, according to one test the researchers ran—such a pharmacy could potentially make $3.5 million per year.

The cost of sending spam is rising, however, so spammers' margins are shrinking. That doesn't mean they're not still making money. And until spam becomes as unprofitable for the sender as it is annoying for the recipient, spam will probably stick around.


Trend Micro Consumer Newsletter \| Security Tips, Tricks, and Updates		January 2009
	Spam's Getting Less Effective— But It's Still Profitable Way back in 2004, Bill Gates predicted that spam would be gone in two years. Three years after that 2006 deadline, spam has proved to be the Internet version of the cockroach: a ubiquitous and virtually unkillable pest. There's one silver lining of sorts, though. As Internet users grow more sophisticated and email service providers' filters improve at identifying junk mail, spammers are having a harder and harder time finding suckers who will actually respond to their solicitations. Compounding their problems is the fact that spam can be very expensive to send. Spam can still generate a lot of money, however, if the product they're selling is pricey enough. Researchers at the University of California at San Diego and Berkeley found that an online pharmacy selling drugs like Viagra could expect an average purchase amount of about $100. Even with a miniscule response rate—.0000081 percent, according to one test the researchers ran—such a pharmacy could potentially make $3.5 million per year. The cost of sending spam is rising, however, so spammers' margins are shrinking. That doesn't mean they're not still making money. And until spam becomes as unprofitable for the sender as it is annoying for the recipient, spam will probably stick around. < Back to main page
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