# Screensaver Mania

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screensaver-mania/508257>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 30, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screensaver-mania/508257 "2009-08-30T14:44:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screensaver-mania/508257/1 "2009-08-30T14:44:54Z")

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One trivia site I go to has that annoying popup asking you to download free screen savers. Those things have been around for 10 years- why the hell do they do it? Aart from to annoy me?  
Is there money to be made out of pop ups that drive people nuts?

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screensaver-mania/508257/2 "2009-08-31T06:59:21Z")

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> [@Cicero](#):
>
> One trivia site I go to has that annoying popup asking you to download free screen savers. Those things have been around for 10 years- why the hell do they do it? Aart from to annoy me?  
> Is there money to be made out of pop ups that drive people nuts?

Well, my dad was gullible enough to download a few screensavers from them. At that time, they just had advertisements built in, But, nowadays, they often have spyware. Advertisers pay a lot of money to find out what the more gullible people do online, as they are the most likely to buy their products.

Remember, in a large population, even a .01% return rate can be profitable.