Everything I know to be true says that investing in spam is a waste of resources. Spam is against US law, alienates customers and prospects, and creates a company image similar to the snake oil salesman of the old west.
Every day I delete emails, direct twitter messages, and text messages from spammers. Today my blog was hit with spam comments. It wasn’t the first invasion, but this time is different. One of the spammers appears to be a legitimate marketing company. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what they were thinking when they decided to spam blog comment forms.
Yes, I know that having linkbacks improves your search engine optimization. This is why the ad-laden websites generate spam comments. If they make it through the filters (BTW Thank you Akismet for catching these), then they receive more revenue. It is a sleazy practice because it misrepresents the advertising value while capitalizing on the good reputation of others.
In an effort to control spam, Internet service providers keep strengthening the filters. It does little to deter the spammers while reeking havoc on permission based marketers. Trying to keep up with the latest triggers is extremely challenging.
The only spaminator that can conquer it is the recipient. Immediately deleting the messages when they arrive is the silver bullet. If every one in our global community did this, then the spam market would collapse.
I can’t wait, how about you?
Too funny! I was just thinking this today when I opened my Inbox and saw the usual assortment of offers for “enhancements” and other wonderful spam messages waiting for me. I, too, am trying to figure out why people spam …it must work on some level if they keep doing it, right? I just can’t figure out who responds to spam after all these years!
Virginia Ginsburg’s last blog post..To zine or not to zine