Google can answer how much spam is costing your business with a calculator which is part of a marketing campaign for Google Message Security (GMS). The service is based on the Postini technology Google acquired last year for online spam-filtering.

There is no rocket science behind the calculator however. Entering a few figures like the number of workers with e-mail account, how much you pay them, how much spam they have to encounter everyday, Google will make out how many days and how much money in lost productivity this represents. Consequently, Google will tell you how many days the GMS service can pay for itself if you subscribe to the package (prices range from $12 to $45 per user/e-mail.)

According to Nucleus Research’s report, spam costs U.S. companies $712 per employee each year that translates into an annual cost of $70 billion to all US businesses.