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.
Taken from the NY Times by ALEX MINDLIN