To make a musical reference, the internet is the Club Tropicana of the technology world. Although the world wide web wasn’t even a glint in George Michael’s eye when he told us about a place where drinks are free, his words certainly have some relevance today. Thanks to the power of the internet, it’s now possible to get drinks and more for free. By using adverts and affiliate marketing, major brands are able to give something away without charging consumers.
In many ways, the internet has shifted the way consumers think. Today, everyone is looking for a bargain. Whether that means using a comparison site like PriceGrabber to find the best prices on electronics or using a free service, we now expect to get things for less online. With this in mind, we’ve found three useful things you can get for free online.
Free Computer Security
If you’re spending a lot of time online looking for bargains, security is essential. According to researchers at Cambridge University, there are now more than 4,000 ransomware attacks happening every day. In addition to the useful mix of firewalls and anti-virus software, virtual private networks (VPNs) are now being used as an extra line of defense. As the market for this has grown, free VPNs have become popular. The important thing to note with free VPN services is that many have limitations. In practice, only around 10% are truly free and effective. So, it pays to do your research before signing up to something.
Free Food and Drink
“Minion Dave at Dunkin Donuts” (CC BY 2.0) by JeepersMedia
Instead of visiting Club Tropicana for a free drink, you can now stay at home and go online. In addition to using reward schemes like Dunkin Donuts’ DD Perks in order to get free coffee, you can use a platform like LatestFreeStuff to get all manner of food and beverages. For example, by signing up to Send Me a Sample, you can ask Google Assistant or Alexa to get you a free can of Coca-Cola. Basically, if you’re willing to register for a tester product or complete a simple survey, you can eat, drink and be merry for free.
Free Entertainment
Perhaps the most abundant free commodity online is music. Thanks to YouTube and Spotify, you can now get access to thousands of songs, music videos and more without paying a cent. Indeed, when you look at the stats, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s a lot of free content. However, it’s not just the big brands that give you access to gratis tunes. Google Play, Deezer, Slacker Radio and Pandora all have subscription-free options. Although you will have to sit through some adverts, that’s a small price to pay if you want something for nothing.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to get use the internet to your advantage. Even though we’ve only covered three main areas, there are free items for virtually anything you can think of. From beauty and fashion to medical kits and more, the internet is awash with freebies if you’re willing to put in a little bit of time and effort to find them.
