People hated the mail. Slashdot, summarizing PC World's 2007 list, said topping the list of the most annoying tech products was AOL's ubiquitous free trial CDs. Mental Floss says that by 2006 the disc campaign was being phased out as customers' online habits changed.

Free trials still run on this math. When you sign up for a streaming service, a cloud plan or an app, set a reminder for the day before the first charge, and cancel then if you are not using it.