Advertising's Role

Spam originated when two lawyers, Canter and Siegel, intrusively advertised themselves to newsgroups via bulk email, and started not only a rollercoaster of irritation among the majority of their email recipients but also the birth of spam. It was on an internet blacklist created by University of California student, Axel Boldt, where Boldt officially named Canter and Siegel and connected “inappropriate advertising on Usenet newsgroups and via junk-email.” Boldt charged that any advertising he was forced to read is, quote, “bad.” (Sterne, 2004).

How does spamming reflect on internet advertising? A real-world case study of advertising through tangible means might better explain how the world views internet advertisers. A 1992 survey and study done by Leo Burnett indicated that while advertising and marketing professionals understand the difference in forms of publicity, consumers do not. In the survey, 94 of 100 commercial communication forms, (hot air balloons, billboards, commercials, etc.,) were all lumped together under the heading of "advertising" by the consumer.

Because spam is promotional by nature, it is probably considered by most to be just another form of advertising, which is bad news for legitimate advertisers. For internet advertisers that are using banner ads or pop-up ads to get a consumer's attention, Web consultant Jakob Nielson contends that these advertisers are aggravating their audience by redirecting them from their original site and destination (Streitfeld , 2000). This aggravation adds to the frustration that is already growing from spam- another form of promotion that diverts attention away from what a user is doing. It also takes the consumer one step closer to thinking that spam is not only a form of advertising, but acceptable by the advertising industry's standards.

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