Seems Somebody Is Clicking on That Spam
Spam messages promoting pornography are 280 times as effective in getting recipients to click on them as messages advertising pharmacy drugs, which are the next most effective type of spam.
The third most successful variety is spam advertising Rolex watches, 0.0075 percent of which get clicked on, according to an analysis by CipherTrust, a large manufacturer of devices that protect networks from spam and viruses.
"Successful spam is about impulse purchases," said Francis deSouza, a vice president at Symantec, which makes antivirus software. "Things like home mortgages have a lower success rate than things you'd buy on impulse. Things like Viagra, porn."
Paul Q. Judge, chief technology officer of Ciphertrust, was philosophical. "If you look at some of the oldest and most successful forms of business on earth, they revolve around sex," he said.
If spam is effective with porn, why bother selling anything else? Mr. deSouza pointed out that many spammers work on contract for other people's businesses. "If you're contracted by a company that sells watches or drugs, you might be perfectly happy spamming about watches or drugs," he said.
