An ad that said "1 in 2 Mac users" were "unaware" of a "trick" simply led to a software utility download with options for monthly or annual pricing.
Since at least 2017, online advertisements have promised a special "trick" to help people with Mac computers. For example, one of the ads claimed: "1 in 2 Mac Users Are Unaware of This Trick to Clean Their Mac."
The ad seemed to hint at a special, built-in, too-little-known function that Apple ships with its macOS updates.
Perhaps it had something to do with an application in the Utilities folder, such as Disk Utility. Or maybe it was about something involving the Console or Terminal apps.
The 'Trick'
However, the ad did not lead to a special "trick." Instead, readers who clicked the ad were presented with a piece of software called MacKeeper.
One of its primary functions appeared to be that it would clean up the file system on a Mac. It was priced with a choice of monthly or annual charges.
We were unable to find any data on the MacKeeper website regarding whether or not "1 in 2 Mac users" were "unaware" of a "trick" to clean their Mac. However, we did find one page that claimed: "1 in 2 of our users have had a virus before using MacKeeper."
Mac Users Discuss the Ads
In 2017, a person using the name DJDS-70 asked a question about the ads on Apple's official community discussion forums. They received an answer from a user named Yer_Man:
DJDS-70: I saw this recent ad on the Newstream: 1 In 2 Mac Users Unaware Of This Computer Trick Mac owners urged to do this today...see why. It was posted by ScanGuard. Has anyone used it? Are they connected to Apple?
Yer_Man: How on earth would they know what half of Mac users know or don't. Or half of Windows users? Or half of Yorkshire terrier owners. It's such a flatulent piece of copy that really, your common sense should tell you it's rubbish.
A Familiar Advertising Strategy
The ad about the purported Mac "trick" might remind some readers of other ads about which we've reported.
For example, a 2021 ad for the Capital One Shopping coupon code browser extension claimed that Amazon Prime membership prices had gone up. In reality, Amazon Prime pricing hadn't increased in nearly three years.
In sum, we found no evidence that "1 in 2 Mac users" were unaware of anything having to do with a "trick" to clean their computers.