Same Old Spam

I've been in the spam blocking game for approaching three years now. I'd like to say that the game has changed over that time, but it really hasn't.

There is a lot more competition. This isn't good for business, but it probably is good for consumers. They have more choices, and can choose from many different spam filters and choose the one the best anti-spam software for their requirements.

Even still, the biggest challenge has been purchasing advertising as competitors bid the prices up. When users make it to this site, they download and purchase at approximately the same rates they did previously.

CAN-SPAM hasn't changed anything. State laws haven't changed anything. Most spam looks very similar to the spam from three years ago. Some stuff is trickier to pick-up, but it's the minority. The good news is that SpamButcher's email filter software has only needed minor tweaks to maintain a similar level of performance.

The biggest change has probably been the use of zombie computers to send spam. Spam sent from zombie systems almost always make it past DNS blacklists. Spammers who use zombies seem hell-bent on getting their junk in you inbox and are willing to produce ugly looking emails to do so. These spammers use every trick in the book to get their unwanted email past the filters.

Intuitively you'd think that the super-ugly spam that makes it past filters wouldn't result in sales. According to a recent Scientific American article, this is unfortunately not the case. Spammers will go wherever the profit motive takes them.

Back