Survey Says: Spam Sells

A study of some 37,000 Yahoo! Mail users in 11 different countries has apparently confirmed what many Internet users have long suspected (and despaired): spam email is working. Despite the fact that spam email is almost universally reviled as a nuisance, there are apparently enough people clicking to justify the industry – or perpetuate the problem, depending on your point of view.

Comment on the effectiveness of Spam at WebProWorld.

Among American respondents to the survey, it was found that nearly 20% of Americans reported they had acted on, or purchased a product, they received information about in a spam email. Roughly 78% of Americans claimed they simply deleted their spam messages. The Japanese were far less tolerant of unsolicited messages with nearly 50% claiming they regularly reply to spam emails to voice their displeasure.

Still, if 20% of Americans are indeed acting on offers received via spam email, that number alone virtually guarantees that there will be plenty of advertisers wishing to show up in their inboxes.

Mike is a manager at iEntry. He has been with iEntry since 2000.