Is Spam on the Decline?

That's what anti-spam gurus at Google are claiming, according to a recent report, although not all the experts agree.

Google software engineers told Wired News that for the first time in years, they're seeing a flat, if not declining, rate of incoming spam. Google didn't cough up any actual numbers, but according to a chart supplied by Google (click here to check it out), only (and I say "only" in relative terms here) about 70 percent of incoming e-mail was spam, versus what looks to be about 75 percent in December 2006. Though the Google chart doesn't show exact percentages, the trend is clear enough.

So, what's going on here? Are spammers throwing in the towel? Hard to say. (The next time I bump into my spammer buddies, I'll be sure to ask them.) The Wired story notes that the "sophisticated filtering algorithms" used by e-mail providers such as Google, Hotmail, and Yahoo! have gotten much better at keeping unwanted spam out of inboxes—and indeed, Google's junk-mail filter usually catches all the 60-odd spam messages I receive daily. Maybe spammers have noticed that their junk is missing the mark and are getting discouraged.

Then again, maybe not. Wired also quotes an analyst at Forrester Research, who says that while he's not seeing a "dramatic" surge in spam, he's noticing more "targeted" junk mail—a more insidious possibility behind Google's claim of a drop in overall spam traffic.

How about you—are you seeing less spam in your inbox?

Related:
Spammers Giving Up? Google Thinks So [Wired News]
Internet Security: Build a Spam Filter [Yahoo! Tech]