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As HowStuffWorks explains, spam is lucrative because it's practically free, and thus requires only a tiny response rate to generate revenue. In addition, spammers can make money by simply selling spam services to small businesses. A recent Washington Times piece explains that most spam isn't about selling things anymore. It's about throwing pop-ups at people. Spammers are paid by advertisers for impressions, regardless of actual item sales. "The Economics of Spam," an article from the University of Oregon, notes that
those endless strings of web pages are intended to maximize ad impressions. Actively killing a pop-up or clicking on an "unsubscribe" link actually makes spammers money. More shady sources of revenue for spammers include stock scams, "free" downloads that make calls to 900 numbers, credit card frauds, and identity thefts. Spammers also sell email addresses and transmission programs to other spammers or small businesses.
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