Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Café-Loving Kids Cash In on Laptop Ads

German firm pushes screen-back billboards at universities

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 12, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – A German company has a solution for university students who spend their time in cafés and need extra cash for coffee: laptop advertisements, Der Spiegel reports. Just slap a sticker on the back of your screen and you could earn $320 for a few months of public studying. Berlin-based Smaboo has 1,200 students hawking its clients' products in 30 German cities.

"We always worked together in a café at university,” 26-year-old Christoph Magnussen says of himself and Smaboo co-founder, “and you always see that when people come in, they always look at your notebooks. We just thought, if they always look, why not put an advertisement on it?"

Katy Harper uses a wireless connection on her laptop at a Chicago cafe in this Feb. 17, 2006, file photo. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
Katy Harper uses a wireless connection on her laptop at a Chicago cafe in this Feb. 17, 2006, file photo. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)   (Associated Press)
A German company has started paying college students for advertisements on the back of their laptop screens.
A German company has started paying college students for advertisements on the back of their laptop screens.   (Shutterstock)
Stephanie Axelrod works on her laptop Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, at a Starbucks Corp. store near the University of Washington in Seattle.  (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Stephanie Axelrod works on her laptop Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, at a Starbucks Corp. store near the University of Washington in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne