<s>
Newsgroup	B-Application
spam	I-Application
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
spam	O
where	O
the	O
targets	O
are	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroups	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spamming	O
of	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroups	I-Application
pre-dates	O
e-mail	O
spam	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
widely	O
recognized	O
Usenet	B-Application
spam	I-Application
(	O
though	O
not	O
the	O
most	O
famous	O
)	O
was	O
posted	O
on	O
18	O
January	O
1994	O
by	O
Clarence	O
L	O
.	O
Thomas	O
IV	O
,	O
a	O
sysadmin	B-Application
at	O
Andrews	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newsgroup	B-Application
posting	O
bot	B-Protocol
Serdar	O
Argic	O
also	O
appeared	O
in	O
early	O
1994	O
,	O
posting	O
tens	O
of	O
thousands	O
of	O
messages	O
to	O
various	O
newsgroups	B-Application
,	O
consisting	O
of	O
identical	O
copies	O
of	O
a	O
political	O
screed	O
relating	O
to	O
the	O
Armenian	O
genocide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
"	O
commercial	O
"	O
Usenet	B-Application
spam	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
one	O
which	O
is	O
often	O
(	O
mistakenly	O
)	O
claimed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
Usenet	B-Application
spam	I-Application
of	O
any	O
sort	O
,	O
was	O
an	O
advertisement	O
for	O
legal	O
services	O
entitled	O
"	O
Green	O
Card	O
Lottery	O
–	O
Final	O
One	O
?	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
there	O
was	O
substantial	O
controversy	O
among	O
Usenet	O
system	B-Application
administrators	I-Application
(	O
news	O
admins	O
)	O
over	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
cancel	O
messages	O
to	O
control	O
spam	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
spam	O
became	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
of	O
vandalising	O
newsgroups	B-Application
,	O
with	O
malicious	O
users	O
committing	O
acts	O
of	O
sporgery	B-Application
to	O
make	O
targeted	O
newsgroups	B-Application
all	O
but	O
unreadable	O
without	O
heavily	O
filtering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
prominent	O
example	O
occurred	O
in	O
alt.religion.scientology	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prevalent	O
in	O
recent	O
times	O
is	O
the	O
MI-5	O
Persecution	O
spam	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
well	O
known	O
across	O
many	O
newsgroups	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lately	O
(	O
December	O
2007	O
)	O
the	O
spammer	O
has	O
taken	O
to	O
altering	O
the	O
"	O
from	O
"	O
address	O
and	O
subject	O
line	O
in	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
get	O
past	O
newsgroup	B-Application
"	O
kill	O
"	O
filters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
prevalence	O
of	O
Usenet	B-Application
spam	I-Application
led	O
to	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
Breidbart	O
Index	O
as	O
an	O
objective	O
measure	O
of	O
a	O
message	O
's	O
"	O
spamminess	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
BI	O
and	O
spam-detection	O
software	O
has	O
led	O
to	O
Usenet	O
being	O
policed	O
by	O
anti-spam	O
volunteers	O
,	O
who	O
purge	O
newsgroups	B-Application
of	O
spam	O
by	O
sending	O
cancels	O
and	O
filtering	O
it	O
out	O
on	O
the	O
way	O
into	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
advent	O
of	O
the	O
large	O
Usenet	O
archive	O
kept	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Groups	O
website	O
,	O
has	O
made	O
Usenet	O
more	O
attractive	O
to	O
spammers	O
than	O
ever	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
in	O
this	O
case	O
is	O
not	O
just	O
to	O
reach	O
the	O
members	O
of	O
a	O
newsgroup	B-Application
,	O
but	O
to	O
also	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
Google	B-Application
gives	O
a	O
higher	O
pagerank	B-Algorithm
to	O
websites	O
that	O
are	O
referred	O
to	O
by	O
these	O
messages	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
catalogued	O
and	O
mirrored	O
in	O
multiple	O
languages	O
at	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Critics	O
have	O
suggested	O
that	O
Google	B-Application
has	O
ulterior	O
motives	O
for	O
"	O
turning	O
a	O
blind	O
eye	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
problem	O
since	O
the	O
websites	O
being	O
pointed	O
to	O
use	O
Google	B-Application
ads	O
,	O
which	O
potentially	O
generate	O
revenue	O
for	O
both	O
the	O
spammer	O
AND	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
The	O
spam	O
is	O
extremely	O
unfair	O
to	O
the	O
companies	O
paying	O
Google	B-Application
and	O
the	O
spammer	O
for	O
an	O
ad-click	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
most	O
prevalent	O
current	O
spam	O
(	O
2010	O
)	O
is	O
trying	O
to	O
trick	O
readers	O
into	O
clicking	O
on	O
web	O
ads	O
by	O
referring	O
to	O
them	O
as	O
images	O
and	O
saying	O
that	O
a	O
link	O
is	O
hidden	O
in	O
them	O
"	O
due	O
to	O
high	O
sex	O
content	O
"	O
or	O
that	O
a	O
link	O
hidden	O
in	O
the	O
image	O
(	O
Google	B-Application
ad	O
)	O
will	O
take	O
them	O
to	O
a	O
"	O
PayPal	O
form	O
"	O
that	O
will	O
give	O
them	O
money	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
most	O
newsreaders	B-Protocol
filter	O
the	O
spam	O
at	O
either	O
the	O
server	O
or	O
user	O
level	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
does	O
not	O
filter	O
spam	O
out	O
of	O
its	O
Usenet	O
News	O
archive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
does	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
offer	O
spam	O
filtering	O
for	O
groups	O
that	O
decide	O
to	O
abandon	O
Usenet	O
and	O
form	O
a	O
moderated	O
Google	B-Application
Group	I-Application
,	O
which	O
gives	O
another	O
reason	O
why	O
Google	B-Application
would	O
turn	O
a	O
blind	O
eye	O
to	O
spam	O
in	O
its	O
archive	O
of	O
Usenet	O
News	O
.	O
</s>
