Relevance

Relevance is what makes people notice you, isn't it? Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for us), spammers don't seem to have gotten the memo yet.

I'm always amazed, as I skim through my spam folder, at the lack of variety in the "topics" broached by spam messages. Maybe one day I should take a little statistical snapshot of my spam folder and look at the proportion of messages about male enhancement pills, bank loans, improbable lottery draws or luxury watches compared to the rest.

I honestly don't understand how people can still fall for those (even if the suckers amount to less than 1%). I am convinced that spammers would fare better if they tapped into less hackneyed, more "relevant" topics. By relevant, I don't mean something narrowly targeted that really resonates with few people and leaves the rest of the crowd indifferent (although that could be an option too). I understand that spammers want to cast as wide a net as possible. For that net to be more effective, I'd suggest using highly visible sporting events as bait, or at least something that catches the eye because it is currently making the news (an election, a natural phenomenon, even a major software release or a celebrity's wedding).

The media was all about the FIFA World Cup last month, and I only got one spam message acknowledging it. The message was sent to me in BCC, the main addressee being some soccer club in France. I received it on the day of the final game, with the following subject line:

alors qu'en penses tu du resultat de la coupe?
(so what do you think of the results of the cup?)

Now wasn't that cleverly done? Wouldn't you be more inclined to click on a message whose subject line is "Get 20% off original price at Tour de France winner's pharmacy" rather than "Get 20% off original price at our online pharmacy"? I believe you would if you received it today, because it is relevant in summer time, when the Tour de France is on. You probably wouldn't notice it as much in the winter, where you'd be more attuned to winter Olympics news or holiday shopping discounts and special offers.

First spammy comment

Yesterday, this blog received its first spammy comment. Marcus left a note regarding a post published last month when my email address won the UK National Lottery. I guess he just wanted to suggest new outlets for my address's gambling addiction.


Sorry, Marcus, this blog will not be a promotional platform for your online casinos. Interestingly enough, though, this comment is somewhat relevant to the post to which it was destined. Also, Marcus and co did not attempt at flooding all my other posts with the same type of comment. Good effort! This is in keeping with this older post described, by the way.

To this day, I have been restricting comment posting to "registered users", i.e. people willing to identify themselves using a Google, LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM or OpenID account. I also chose to enable word verification (a step which is automatically skipped if you signed in as a blog author, apparently). Last but not least, I set my comment moderation settings to "always" and get notified by email each time someone leaves a comment.

On various occasions, while trying to leave a comment, the whole identification and word verification process struck me as cumbersome and frustrating. Since Marcus's comment only got caught at the comment moderation stage, why not make it easier altogether for normal people to share their thoughts in the comments section?

Let's give it a try: I just changed my settings to allow anyone to post comments to my blog. If I get flooded with spammy comments (which you will hopefully never get to see), I'll switch back to more restrictive settings.

Spiderman's pedipalps

If you're wondering what pedipalps are (not what they stand for here, obviously), the Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives the following definition:

either of the second pair of appendages of an arachnid (as a spider) that are borne near the mouth and are often modified for a special (as sensory) function

The appendage, according to the Wikipedia article, is also where the male spider's reproductive organs are located, which makes it relevant in the context of your average spam message.


Considering what one looks like with enlarged pedipalps (see above), though, it is safe to say that you and your family can pass on this and save.

Polysemy, ambiguity and spam recipes

Once in a while, I check my mail sent to my Gmail account using the online interface. I generally go directly to the spam folder to make sure that the spam filter has not been over-zealous, and sometimes just for laughs.

Some advertising makes it through my default Adblock Plus config but what keeps me from blocking the frame is the (certainly limited but not non-existent) entertainment value of this sponsored links section. Most of the text ads deemed "contextually" relevant to the mail classified as spam have to do with unsolicited mail. Some, however, are pretty much off target and that makes them way more interesting: the relevance computation is evidently based on "spam" construed as gelatinous mystery/porky meat.

Spam Confetti Pasta
French Fry Spam Casserole
Spam Vegetable Strudel
Spam Veggie Pita Pockets
Spicy Spam Kabobs
Savory Spam Crescents
Spam Primavera
Spam Imperial Tortilla Sandwiches
Spam Fajitas
Spam Skillet Casserole
Spam Quiche
Spam Hashbrown Bake
Ginger Spam Salad

Yikes.

Resolving ambiguity originating in polysemy is no easy task. And yet, one could assume that the engine used by AdSense to process keywords and calculate ad relevance would know what "spam" means when it is a label associated by Gmail itself to an electronic message, don't you think?