If youve been around the interenet any length of time then you most definately understand what spam is. However, if youre new to the internet you might be asking yourself the question "What is Spam?"

The best place to start would be to explain to you exactly what spam mail is. Spam is basically just unsolicited commercial emails that businesses send to your inbox.

There are a lot of ways these companies get your email address. You may have signed up for a news letter or promotions with one of them, or you can have ordered a merchandise or service that requires registration from a web page first.

It is common for businesses to share their mailing lists with their affiliate companies. Its one of the benefits to having affiliations. The only problem is that most businesses hide this experience in their terms and agreements of their web sites . They count on the fact that most all the people do not read all the way through them. Of course since it is mentioned somewhere in their website, it is perfectly legal.

The average human may expect to receive anywhere from ten to twenty spams a day in their inbox; depending on how many promos and registrations they fill out. Once a person accepts or opens an unsolicited electronic mail , they become plagued by receiving six more in its place. It is a vicious cycle.

As the internet has reached its peak popularity during the past couple of months, so have companies followed suit and expanded their abilities to advertise. The biggest problem is that they do not understand when to stop marketing.

The best place to start with this manual is to give you a list of some of the things that you can do that will leave your inbox vulnerable to receiving spam.

Filling out a registration for an online newsletter is a common way for businesses to make use of your inbox to sell .

Registering your inbox for promos and contests.

When installing new software it is common to register your e mail address for updates, but it is also leaving yourself open to spam.

Signing yourself up for just about anything online is leaving yourself open to receiving spam.

Reviewing books online fairly often requires that you provide your email address.

One Common variable in all of these things listed is that you have to volunteer your email address to a company before it might be used. Of course, there are ways for a business to get your e-mail address without you having to give it to them directly.