Spam Messages Increase, Lose Effectiveness

As spam mailings continue to permeate email inboxes around the Internet, the majority of those who receive spam accept the unsolicited emails in stride, almost as if it's an expected occurrence when using the Internet.

In January, 2005, some 22% of email users say that spam has reduced their overall use of email - 3 percent less than numbers from 19 months earlier; and 53% say that spam has made them less trusting of email in general - one per cent more than 19 months earlier. The effect of spam on the internet in general also decreased to a new low; some 67% of users said spam made being online unpleasant or annoying -- 4 points below numbers from 19 months earlier. While people's attitudes toward spam may be changing, their ability to protect themselves is not. During the last study, 69% of those surveyed said they say they would avoid posting their email addresses to web sites, a common source for spammers to collect email addresses. That number has only fallen by 5 percentage points, making it 64%. The study also indicated: Still, there seem to be enough email users willing to check out the material that arrives in unsolicited commercial email. Some 6% of email users say they have ordered a product or service offered in an unsolicited email, a number that is virtually unchanged from 7% in June 2003 and 5% one year ago. It is certainly a number adequate to make spam profitable for some purveyors. To learn more about Pew's results, please murdok. Visit murdok for the

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