We Can Do Better Than Spam. Can’t We?

Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0 always has thought provoking content to share, which makes him one of the best bloggers I know of.
In a recent post, he states that “most online advertising creates NO value for consumers.” I’m not sure many other forms of advertising create value for consumers either, but I digress.

Consider this: What is the most successful type of online advertising that convinces people to buy something they weren’t in the market to buy?
Email spam.
Spam is probably the most inefficient form of advertising ever created, and it creates more hate and loathing among consumers than the worst 30 second TV ad ever created.
But it works. With millions of emails sent at virtually no cost, a 0.001% response rate can still be highly profitable.