# Nielsen survey **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006 "2016-02-13T06:35:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/1 "2016-02-13T06:35:35Z")
We just got a nielsen survey in the mail. They will send us $5 **CASH** money for filling out their survey. The letter had $2 cash money in it. They were 2 nice crisp probably uncirculated bills. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/2 "2016-02-13T18:59:56Z")
I actually got a couple of old bills from them now and then. There was even a fiver in there once. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/3 "2016-02-13T19:29:38Z")
How long does it take to complete? I do some industry related surveys and I only accept the ones that pay $1 a minute or more. (So, for example I’ll do a 15 minute survey that pays $20 but not a 10 minute survey that pays $5) ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/4 "2016-02-13T21:21:09Z")
AC Nielsen also has a browser extension where they will monitor your computer surfing and once a month you get the opportunity to enter for a $10,000 USD drawing. They also send you five dollar surveys to fill out every so often. However, you need to be part of the demographic they want to get the surveys at any regular basis. And not all surveys pay money, some just give you an additional chance at winning the monthly prize of $10,000 USD. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/5 "2016-02-13T22:18:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > How long does it take to complete? I do some industry related surveys and I only accept the ones that pay $1 a minute or more. (So, for example I’ll do a 15 minute survey that pays $20 but not a 10 minute survey that pays $5) The survey I got but am declining to return would probably take less than 5 minutes to complete. I has about 20 questions on 2 sides of paper. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/6 "2016-02-13T23:28:01Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > The survey I got but am declining to return would probably take less than 5 minutes to complete. I has about 20 questions on 2 sides of paper. Oh, c’mon. Fill it out and turn it in. This is one reason why I open ALL my mail, no matter how much it looks like junk mail. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/7 "2016-02-14T17:40:36Z")
I got a Nielsen survey in the mail years ago. It had a buck in it and they mailed me another buck after it was done. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/8 "2016-02-14T23:14:46Z")
I just visited our PO box in Hawaii, which only gets checked every few months, and among the usual flyers and junk mail there was a big cardboard envelope from Nielsen, which I ignored because it was old and I don’t watch TV and don’t really spend much time in the US anyway. However, good person that I am, I opened the envelope so I could sort the recycling (we have separate bins for cardboard and white paper). Yup, there were two one-dollar bills in there. I did not put them in the recycling piles 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/9 "2016-02-15T12:49:17Z")
I did it a few months ago…got 2-3 bucks tops. Pain in the asp. They need to make the surveys a little bit more user friendly. I have very crappy hand writing! Guess they did not like all the comments I made in the (Appropriate) comment boxes. Probably never hear from them again! I thought it would be more long term than 2 weeks ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/10 "2016-10-25T18:34:16Z")
I just received my first phone call from the Nielsen company. The first thing I told the girl was, " I just received a letter from the Nielsen company, but I didn’t even open it." And she said, that’s okay. Let’s go ahead with the survey. The survey was short and I gave her some simple answers. I told the caller that I only listen to One radio station, my local NPR station. The frequency is 88.5. She asked me whether that was AM or FM. Suddenly, I was mildly outraged. Here is a media company calling me to ask me but me what I prefer, and these people don’t even know the difference between AM and FM? After a brief tirade I realized that I was just older than the caller, she probably doesn’t even listen to radio, and she admitted to this. Anyway, the people that they are hiring to collect all this data don’t even understand what the data is. That should give you some information about the accuracy of the numbers this company comes up with. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-survey/746006/11 "2016-10-25T19:48:41Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > AC Nielsen also has a browser extension where they will monitor your computer surfing and once a month you get the opportunity to enter for a $10,000 USD drawing. They also send you five dollar surveys to fill out every so often. Used to be that they just sent $50 savings bonds every so often.