Spam

[cjsmith]

Man, I get SO MUCH singles-scene spam it isn't funny. "I want to get to know you," said the latest. Whoops, not a minute later I'm a liar: "Still Single?" is now the latest.

There's something tragic about this much marketing attention on one subject, especially an area where there can be no guarantees of quick -- or even eventual -- success. It makes me start to wonder just how bad a system of arranged marriages would be.

Ads for increasing one's penis size have that same ache, to me. Even if the method works, will the customer truly be satisfied? On the other hand, ads for home loan refinancing or for getting a good price on a car don't seem sad in the slightest. On the other other hand, ads for methods of making lots of money on the Internet are depressing, but in a very different way. :-)

So I look for new mail again. "Iraq: God's Plan?" says my inbox. The world snaps back into focus. There are things a lot worse than getting sad reading spam.

Comments

[firecat]

There's something tragic about this much marketing attention on one subject, especially an area where there can be no guarantees of quick -- or even eventual -- success.

That applies to so many things...dating, dieting, knife-sharpening...

[harpwolf.livejournal.com]

Spam is money-driven. So it tends to be about topics for which they can send someone into an affiliate link. The high prestige affiliate programs don't work because the operators are quick to shut down spammers. So spam tends to be connected with the 2nd tier, the "seamy underside" of affiliate programs. And those tend to reside in certain industries.

They honestly don't care what they advertise. They'd spam to sell dingleberries if dingleberry affiliate programs paid $25/sale.
When they advertise it's nothing personal. They just want clicks/conversions.