(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Email researchers: Spammers make about $200M/yr, and cost the globe $20B/yr.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I assume that the cost estimate is very low. What about all the missed communication because of filters, email that gets ignored because it has a vague subject line, etc.? If it weren't for spammers, we'd have email directories.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

So Spammers only make about 1% of the money that goes into the spam? Is that the figure?

Of course, looking at it another way, they foster a $20B/year industry.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

More "spammers inflict $20B/yr damage on others to make their $200M income"

Of course, looking at it another way, they foster a $20B/year industry.

In the same sense that BP fosters a massive oil-spill-cleanup industry, sure.

[ianhess.livejournal.com]

A $20b/year drag on the economy?

[kjn]

Finally a sector that's a bigger drag on the economy, at least relatively speaking, than the military.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Note: the original paper (http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.26.3.87) indicates that the $20B/yr figure is only for American firms and consumers. Since the revenue figure of $200M is worldwide, the externalities are actually worse than the 100-1 ratio noted.

The Atlantic's coverage seems to have suffered from the common journalists' disease of assuming US total = world total.