Every month Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry

"To mark Earth Day 2011, WordStream Inc., a provider of search marketing software, has compiled research revealing the environmental effects, good and bad, of our ever-growing Internet dependence, including data on the energy usage and CO2 emissions of Google searches and email spam.
Research findings include:
- In 2005, the 10.3 million data centers in the U.S. used 61 billion kWh of energy -- enough to power the entire U.K. for two years.
- One Google search produces the same amount of CO2 as driving a car three inches.
- Every month, Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry.
- The 62 trillion spam messages sent each year produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of 1.6 million cars driving around the planet."

Source:  Data compiled by the internet marketing company WordStream, published as a press release, 21st April 2011

The number of spam emails sent dropped dramatically in 2010

"The amount of junk e-mail being sent across the globe has seen a dramatic fall in recent months.
The volume of spam has dropped steadily since August, but the Christmas period saw a precipitous decline.
One security firm detected around 200 billion spam messages being sent each day in August, but just 50 billion in December.
While the reasons for the decline are not fully understood, spam watchers warn the lull may not last.
Around the Christmas holidays, three of the largest spam producers curtailed their activity, Paul Wood, a senior analyst at Symantec Hosted Services told BBC News.
"But it's hard to say why," he added."

Source:  Symantic Hosted Services, reported by BBC News, 6th January 2011

An estimated 247 billion emails are sent each day

"The number of worldwide email users is projected to increase from over 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.9 billion by 2013. In 2009, 74% of all email accounts will belong to consumers, and 24% to corporate users.
Worldwide email traffic will total 247 billion messages per day in 2009. By 2013, this figure will almost double to 507 billion messages per day.
In 2009, about 81% of all email traffic is spam. According to our projections, a typical 1,000-user organization can spend upwards of $1.8 million a year to manage spam."
Source: Press release from The Radicati Group, 6th May 2009

Approximately 15% of Twitter traffic, 10% of MySpace traffic and 7% of Facebook traffic is porn spam

"About 15% of Twitter traffic, 10% of MySpace traffic and 7% of Facebook traffic is porn spam, according to security expert Alexandru Catalin Cosoi of BitDefender.
What's more, as porn spam rises on social sites, email-based porn spam has begun to drop.
Twitter, presently the "it" brand of social networks, currently suffers from a deluge of spam. Spammers register as users with provocative images, then follow mounds of other users and invite them to visit links to their sites."
Source: Research by BitDefender, reported by MarketingVox, 11th September 2009

80% of US internet users find overlay ads 'very frustrating'

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"At the same time as many internet advertisers are ramping up their web advertising efforts, the majority of US consumers say they are very frustrated by many common types of internet ads, according to (pdf) a recent study by Harris Interactive, which cites pop-ups, ads that are “moused over,” difficult-to-close ads, and musical ads as some of the worst offenders.
Ads that spread across the page and cover the content beneath them are the most vexing for consumers, with 80% of respondents in the study deeming these types to be very frustrating. Ads on which consumers can’t find the skip or close button are a close second, with 79% of respondents similarly annoyed, the survey found."
Source: Harris Interactive study, reported by MarketingVox, 23rd July 2009

More than 97% of emails are spam

"More than 97% of all emails sent over the net are unwanted, according to a Microsoft security report.
The emails are dominated by spam adverts for drugs, and general product pitches and often have malicious attachments."
Source: Microsoft security report, cited by the BBC News website, 8th April 2009