Thought I'd comment on a spam-advertising-spam I just got. Interestingly, even with a fake "Re: Order Confirmation" subject that took of 3 points from the spam score, it *still got a score of 53.9
> 1) Let's say you... Sell a $24.95 PRODUCT or SERVICE. > 2) Let's say you... Broadcast Email FREE to 500,000 PEOPLE DAILY. > 3) Let's say you... Receive JUST 1 ORDER for EVERY 2,500 EMAILS. 4) Let's say I... Hunt you to the ends of the Earth and stab out your eyeballs with a rusty screw driver? Good God! 500,000 *daily*?! Even using open relays, wouldn't a spammer need an ISP level of connectivity to pump out this many messages? > ** According to Forrester Research, a Broadcast Email Ad is up > ** to 15 TIMES MORE LIKELY to Result in a Sale than a Banner Ad! Have banner ad click-through rates really fallen that low? Or are the ratware making scum just lying? Interestingly, Forrester also says that "Opt-in is the only way to preserve email ROI [Return on Investment]" (http://www.forrester.com/ER/Research/Report/0,1338,12353,FF.html). Gee, I wonder why the ratware making isn't telling them this? Also, "2002 data confirms it -- email ads and promotions are losing effectiveness and aggravating consumers." (http://www.forrester.com/ER/Research/DataSnapshot/Excerpt/0,1317,14931,FF.html) > A 50 Page Targeted HTML Broadcast Email Advertisement with Pictures > to 50,000,000 People through the Internet is Free. 50 pages?! Gah! Why not send a Flash ad that will blare out Britney Spears music while your at it? (On the other hand, I probably should give them any ideas). And free? While low cost, they're lying if they say it's free. They'd have to buy some ratware, and then sign up with a spam-haus ISP to let them send out millions of spam messages without getting booted. > Which advertising method sounds most appealing to you? Gee, I dunno, the one that doesn't fill my inbox with dozens of unwanted messages a day? > "The cost of sending mass e-mail is extremely low, and the response > rate is high and quick." - USA TODAY Yep, the response rate sure is high. Why, when a man receives spam for Viagra or a penis enlarger, he jumps on it... And does the same with the next one... And the next one... Which is why we see so many men walking around with mile long erections... Jeez, hasn't everyone who'd be gullible enough to be taken in by spam already been burnt and learned their lesson? Hasn't everyone who'd buy Viagra from a spammer already found a spammer to supply them? > With Broadcast Email Software, a Broadcast Email Advertisement > like this one can be AUTOMATICALLY sent to up to 1,000,000 > PEOPLE on a DAILY BASIS with LESS than 2 MINUTES of YOUR TIME! EFFORTLESSLY earning you the HATE and CONTEMPT of COUNTLESS people you don't know! Interestingly, the claim of a 1,000,000 spams a day is made for "personalized" spam, with "Hi Username," at the beginning. With customization, they can't offload the bandwidth cost onto open relays; they're going to have to send a million messages out through their pipe each day. How much does that kind of bandwidth cost? > IMT Strategies Reports an AVERAGE of a 16.4% CLICK THROUGH RATE from > users that have received a Broadcast Email Advertisement! More lies? I find this hard to believe. Or maybe this is a statistic for *true* opt-in advertising? > A EUROPEAN 2001 BENCHMARK STUDY Conducted by Forrester Research > Says: > > 1) 41% of Consumers Believe Email is a Good Way to Find out About > New Products. > > 2) 36% of Consumers in 13 Countries Read Most of the Promotional > Email they Receive and 9% Forward the Email to a Friend Because They > Think it is Valuable. I find this impossible to believe. > An Arthur Anderson Online Panel reveals that 85% of Online Users say > that Broadcast Email Advertisements have LED TO A PURCHASE!" I also find this impossible to believe. Or is it just us technical types who hate spam? > According to FloNetwork, US Consumers DISCOVER New Products and > Services 7+ TIMES MORE OFTEN through an Email Advertisement, than > through Search Engines, Magazines and Television COMBINED!" More impossibility. I never receive any spam except for porn, Viagra, penis/breast enlargement, spam ratware, free money, stock tips, and such. What are all of these new products that people are discovering through spam? I haven't seen them. > Your Internet Provider's Mail Servers are NOT USED! With our SPECIAL software, we help you ABUSE innocent mail servers all across ASIA! > Now with Our Software => You Can Avoid Internet Provider Concerns! VIOLATE the terms of your CONTRACT with you ISP with no worries! -- Give a man a match, and he'll be warm for a minute, but set him on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. ICQ: 132152059 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bringing you mounds of caffeinated joy >>> http://thinkgeek.com/sf <<< _______________________________________________ Spamassassin-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/spamassassin-talk
