Not so much spam, eh?

Canadians get a lot of spam - but it looks like the rapid growth of previous years has leveled. Is it possible some efforts to fight spam are really working?

One report suggests that the average number of spam messages received weekly stayed about the same between 2002 and 2004. Previously the amount of junk email had been doubling on an annual basis.

The average Canadian is now getting around 70 pieces of spam per week. From my experience this probably means some have virtually no spam problem, while others are seriously inundated with unwanted email messages.

There are several possible reasons for the leveling. The most obvious one is that more Canadians are using email spam blockers. Two years ago 41% said they were. Now, 77% of users report using a spam blocker.

Efforts to stop spam aren't only client-side. Users have been very vocal towards their internet providers about the spam problem, and they have responded. ISPs have increasingly been deploying anti-spam filter technologies to help block unwanted messages.

SpamButcher can work as an Outlook spam filter or be used with many other popular mail programs.

Back