Add this to the already-multituindous reasons you have for ignoring or purging spam: enough of its creators are making profits without doing a thing other than sending you the spam, according to a published report.
"It has long been thought that spammers made money only because people bought them products advertised in e-mails, like pornography or weight loss programs," said the Washington Times August 3. "Now, antispam advocates are warning consumers against even replying to spam or going to sites advertised…because it could put more money in spammers' pockets."
A University of Oregon Computing Center director, Joseph St. Sauver, told the paper he doesn't believe spam is about sales. "It'd be nice if it were true," he told the paper, "but that's not the case anymore." The Times said many spammers make profit as long as people just visit their sites, by way of banner ads shown on the sites, with Web operators getting fees per visitor from advertisers…and the spam recipients themselves not even having to register on the site or pay any money.
"Some spammers also use banner ads on Web sites designed to allow people to opt out of future e-mails," the Times continued. "For instance, a spammer may include in an e-mail a link titled 'Click Here to Opt Out of Future E-mails'." Not only are those opt-outs not honored, the paper added, but according to St. Sauver the spammers just lured the e-mail recipients so they could collect the banner revenue.
