Spam

With the advent of the electronic mail system in the 1970s, a new opportunity for direct marketing using unsolicited electronic mail became apparent. In 1978, Gary Thuerk compiled a list of those on the Arpanet and then sent out a huge mailing publicising Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC—now Compaq) systems. The reaction from the Defense Communications Agency (DCA), who ran Arpanet, was very negative, and it was this negative reaction that ensured that it was a long time before unsolicited e-mail was used again (Templeton, 2003). As long as the U.S. government controlled a major part of the backbone, most forms of commercial activity were forbidden (Hayes, 2003). However, in 1993, the Internet Network Information Center was privatized, and with no central government controls, spam, as it is now called, came into wider use. The term spam was taken from the Monty Python Flying Circus (a UK comedy group) and their comedy skit that featured the ironic spam song sung in praise of spam (luncheon meat)—“spam, spam, spam, lovely spam”—and it came to mean mail that was unsolicited. Conversely, the term ham came to mean e-mail that was wanted. Brad Templeton, a UseNet pioneer and chair of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has traced the first usage of the term spam back to MUDs (Multi User Dungeons), or real-time multi-person shared environment, and the MUD community. These groups introduced the term spam to the early chat rooms (Internet Relay Chats). The first major UseNet (the world’s largest online conferencing system) spam sent in January 1994 and was a religious posting: “Global alert for all: Jesus is coming soon.” The term spam was more broadly popularised in April 1994, when two lawyers, Canter and Siegel from Arizona, posted a message that advertized their information and legal services for immigrants applying for the U.S. Green Card scheme. The message was posted to every newsgroup on UseNet, and after this incident, the term spam became synonymous with junk or unsolicited e-mail. Spam spread quickly among the UseNet groups who were easy targets for spammers simply because the e-mail addresses of members were widely available (Templeton, 2003)

INFORMATION DESIGN FOR EMAIL ADVERTISEMENTS

The Frequent use of emails as a communication mechanism  is observed in recent years. Now the emails are utilized in the marketing and advertisement of various products. The information design for the email advertisement is perhaps the less explored area. In this paper we have highlighted the role of email advertisements in marketing of the products. A process model for email advertisement is also proposed. The design guidelines for email advertisement are opted from various sources and proposed. The email advertisement design guidelines are categorized as the functional, administrative, aesthetic and cognitive guidelines. The email advertisement design guidelines can be utilized in the designing of emails based advertisements

The Cost Impact of Spam Filters: Measuring the Effect of Information System Technologies in Organizations

More than 70% of global e-mail traffic consists of unsolicited and commercial direct marketing, also known as spam. Dealing with spam incurs high costs for organizations, prompting efforts to try to reduce spam-related costs by installing spam filters. Using modern econometric methods to reduce the selection bias of installing a spam filter, we deploy a unique data setting implemented at a German university to measure the costs associated with spam and the costs savings of spam filters. The applied methodological framework can easily be transferred to estimate the effect of other IS technologies (e.g., SAP) implemented in organizations. Our findings indicate that central IT costs are of little relevance since the majority of spam costs stem from employees who spend working time identifying and deleting spam. The working time losses caused by spam are approximately 1,200 minutes per employee per year; these costs could be reduced by roughly 35% through the installation of a spam filter mechanism. The individual efficiency of a spam filter installation depends on the amount of spam that is received and on the level of knowledge about spam.propensity score matching, treatment effects, spam filter, spam

An experiment exploring the relation between the amount of spam received after registering in different websites

Some web sites require registration in order to use their free services. But is this really free? The goal of this paper is to describe an experiment that was conducted to explore the relation between registering in different websites and the amount of junk emails received. The whole experiment was divided into three periods and the collected data from them was compared. The paper contains also an analysis of the results and recommendations for the users on how to avoid or at least limit the spam in their mailboxes

Controlling your Brand: Contractual Restrictions Placed by Internet Retailers on Affiliate Marketing Activities in Spain

Affiliate marketing programs have emerged as one of the fastest-growing methods for online retailers to acquire customers and increase sales. Affiliate marketing offers a number of advantages, including a relatively low cost and the ability to accurately track the actions of website visitors and their responses to targeted promotional activities. However, while these programs have proven effective in increasing website traffic and sales, illegal or inappropriate activities on the part of affiliates could negatively impact a retailer’s brand in the eyes of customers. This study reviews the stated guidelines in one-to-many affiliate programs in the three major affiliate networks in Spain as a first step in understanding how online retailers control the business models and promotional tools used by their affiliates. The conclusion is that there is a significant lack of transparency in the guidance and restrictions communicated to affiliates, which increases the risk of inappropriate behavior or misconduct. Consequently, affiliate monitoring by online retailers becomes increasingly important. General recommendations to improve monitoring are considered

Mitigating the Tragedy Of the Digital Commons: The Problem of Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail

The growth of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) imposes increasing costs on organizations and causes considerable aggravation on the part of e-mail recipients. A thriving anti-spam industry addresses some of the frustration. Regulation and various economic and technical means are in the works. All anti-spam measures aim at bringing down the flood of unwanted commercial e-mail. This paper draws on scholarly work in marketing, resource ownership, and use. Adapting the tragedy of the commons concept to e-mail, we identify a causal structure that drives the direct e-marketing industry. Computer simulations indicate that although filtering may be an effective method to curb UCE arriving at individual inboxes, it is likely to increase the aggregate volume, thereby boosting overall costs. We also examine other response mechanisms, including self-regulation, government regulation, and market mechanisms. We find that, of the various countermeasures, filtering appears to be the best currently available but that none are a satisfactory solution. The analysis advances understanding of the digital commons, the economics of UCE, and provides practical implications for the direct e-marketing industry

Detecção de Spams Utilizando Conteúdo Web Associado a Mensagens

Neste trabalho propomos uma estratégia de detecção de spams que explora o conteúdo das páginas Web apontadas por mensagens. Descrevemos uma metodologia para a coleta dessas páginas, caracterizamos a relação entre as páginas e as mensagens de spam e, em seguida, utilizamos um algoritmo de aprendizado de máquina para extrair as informações relevantes para a detecção de spam. Mostramos que a utilização de informações das páginas mencionadas melhora significativamente a classificação de spams e hams, gerando um baixo índice de falsos positivos.Nosso estudo revela que as páginas apontadas pelos spams ainda são um campo de batalha não explorado pelos filtros, onde os spammers não se preocupam em esconder a sua identidade