Those get-paid-to-surf programs

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

You’ve seen everyone hyping them, and probably gotten all kinds of spam about 'em, right? Have you tried any? I’ve used AllAdvantage, but the only two others that I know of that actually have their product available kinda suck! Spedia tends to crash, ProfitZone sits in the MIDDLE of my screen (ack!) etc. I never get around to actually USING the GoToWorld browser, since I like Netscape.

The rest are all still “being developed” and aren’t ready for download yet. One of them says in their FAQ that they plan to release “Summer of 1999”… I emailed them saying that it was already PAST summer, and I got back a form letter that said they planned to release it “September 1999”… (this was just a few days ago).

My husband doesn’t see how these programs can survive, and wonders how many will fold in the first 6 months. Me, I’m wondering how many will fold before they ever actually start anything!

So what do you think… is this a fad that will blow over? Is it a scam? Obviously AllAdvantage is the leader, the most popular, or whatever (and in all honesty, I think it rocks… I made $43 last month, and so far this month I’m up to $41 and it’s only the 10th…though I haven’t actually gotten a check yet) but how long can even it last? Are the advertizing dollars REALLY OUT THERE to make this work in the long run??

Note: if you don’t know what I’m talking about, there are programs that pay you something like $.50/hr or a small percentage of ad revenue to put a small ad banner on your desktop and flash ads at you while you surf. I have a page of links to them, since it can’t hurt, right? but I do wonder if it is all really gonna pan out. If you want to see what I mean, it’s at opalcat.com/getpaid.html [and yes, if you click on the links there, they do all have referral IDs/names or whatever. This is not an ad though, so please don’t get mad]

So, oh wise teeming millions, is it Free Money, or is it a Pile of Crap?

>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions

2

I think it’s a load of crap. Money making on the Web is not banners; they don’t work, we’ve become so used to them we don’t click-through.

The only way to use the web to make money is to sell products online. And that’s a good thing all round, few would deny that. Whereas the things you’re talking about are questionably run and probably a scam.

Why is spam called spam, but banners aren’t called spam?

“Waheeey! ‘Duck!’ Get it?”
“Errr… No…”
“Duck! Sounds almost exactly like fu-”

3

We had a Nielsen thing on our computers that paid us a little. It was annoying as hell.Kept popping up all the time asking you to log in and out. I banned it immediately from my computer.

4

I have been running the AllAdvantage “viewbar” on my PC and my account stands at $31…

I’ve had no problems with the AllAdvantage viewbar at all. The way to make the “big” bucks is to refer other people. In order to get credit for refering people, you’ve got to get them to to sign up via a link that contains your ID. For example, mine is:

(deleted by TubaDiva. We do not allow multi-level-marketing plans listed on this site.)
It seems like AllAdvantage will make it.

A while back I went out to Opal’s page and signed up for some (5) of the other companies. Spedia was one of them and so far I havn’t had the problem that she mentions with the Spedia viewbar crashing, although I don’t like the Spedia viewbar as much as the one from AA. You can run the Spedia bar on top of the AA bar, but then you are eating up the bottom couple of inches on your screen and it starts to get in the way. Here at our house, the routine has become: Run the AA viewbar until you max on your monthly hour limit, then close it and open the Spedia bar.

After I signed up with the other 5 under Opal, I went looking around for more of them and I found 5 others out there and I signed up for them as well. Like Opal mentions, most of them don’t yet have their viewbars ready yet, and I too wonder how the internet ad market can support all these companies attempting to utilize the “pay to surf” angle.

I think AllAdvantage, the pioneer will last, but I’m sure that there will be a shakeout and some of the others will fold or simply not be able to make it off the ground.

Contestant #3

[Note: This message has been edited by TubaDiva]

5

I just signed up for AllAdvantage a few days ago, and I’ve got the little ad banner on my computer now. Seems to work with no problems, although I’ve had a few little glitches here and there. I’ve also signed up for a couple of others that aren’t ‘working’ yet, but we’ll see what happens with them.

I’ve also signed up for some programs that pay your for reading e-mail ads - this has just started, so I haven’t actually read any e-mail yet, but I think you have to click on a link and view a website to get paid. They pay $0.05 per e-mail read, plus you can do the referral thing.

Another thing to try are the survey companies that pay you for taking marketing, etc. surveys. Some of them do a LOT of surveys and pay something like $2.50 each. Others use very targeted surveys so you might only do one or two surveys a year. They say that they will sometimes ask for one-on-one interviews (via e-mail or chat) or focus groups (chats) that will pay anywhere from $20 to $50.

There’s also Mystery Shopping - seems to be a ton of those available.

If you have a website, you can make money by displaying ad banners - some pay you X cents for every click on their banner from your website. And do the referral thing.

I have a long list of sites that list these type of things that I’m checking out - haven’t had time to visit all of them yet. I could post a list of links if the Administrators don’t consider it advertising, although I hate to think of someone else getting the referral money! (It wouldn’t be me!)

I think most of these are going to crash and burn, or never get off the ground, but I have clicked on a few of the banner ads - my AllAdvantage bar has several pet supply places, which I’m always interested in. And it doesn’t cost me anything to try making a little money while I’m wasting my life on this computer!

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. - Henry Van Dyke

6

I guess I should have mentioned - do an internet search for ‘making money on the internet’ and you’ll get tons of results. Just ignore the ones that are obviously trying to sell books, ‘secrets’, etc. Look for sites that mention running banner ads, doing surveys, etc. These will usually be websites put up by people to cash in on the referral thing (some of these people say they are making several hundred dollars a month) and will have anywhere from a few to a lot of links (using their referral number, of course).

Just read the offers carefully and determine if they give cash or just points, coupons, etc., and exactly what it is you have to do. I’ve passed up a few because I was uneasy about downloading software to my computer, and one place wanted my SS# in addition to the usual demographic information, and I backed out of there in a hurry.

BTW, all of these are FREE - don’t even look at something that mentions buying ISP time or sending money in any other way.

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. - Henry Van Dyke

7

Just curious…has anybody actually seen a check yet?

Regards

8

We got paid to surf in the 70’s. the program was a benefit for some medical program. We stayed in the ocean as long as we possibly could.

9

I was wondering the same thing…has anyone actually recieved a check yet?
The only money making thing I did on the net was an Amazon.com bookstore on my old website. I made about $50 per quarter and they sent my checks quarterly (statements weekly). That works out nice if anyone is interested.

Some mornings it just doesn’t seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/zettecity/index.html

10

I only signed up a few days ago, so I’m not exactly expecting a check anytime soon. I have talked to some people who say they have received their checks, so I’m assuming that, at least in some instances, the offers are valid.

Of course, it may all be a load of bull manure and I’ll never get anything, but it didn’t cost me anything to sign up and its not causing me any problems, so if it doesn’t pan out I’ll just chalk it up to experience and move on.

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. - Henry Van Dyke

11

Not yet, although September was the first month that I had money coming, so they’ve only had 10 days to do their bookkeeping and get stuff mailed… so I’m not frantic yet :wink:

I’ve recently added a porn click-thru banner to the homepage of the CamGirls Ring (the ring is about 75% adult sites itself)… I think I get something like 15 cents per click… we’ll see if it makes anything. They also have a program where you get $30 per signup, but I haven’t put those up yet. Btw, if you have a site that you want porn banners on (lol) contact me and I’ll give you the info for this company. A friend of mine used them before and made (supposedly) over $1000 every month. And yes, I do get a referral kickback if a webmaster signs up under me.

>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions

12

Some work, some don’t. Some crash, some don’t.

Okay, so the common thread is that nobody’s actually gotten paid, right?

At least they are consistent in one regard!

I’d be willing to bet the adult one is the only one that ever pays off.

Some mornings, it’s just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
– Emo Phillips

13

well I’m up to $57 for the month on AllAdvantage… still no check from last month (but I won’t get worried til the end of the month)

>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions

14

Opal,
Can you keep us posted? I’m curious to see when your money comes…I’m probobly going to sign up for one anyway just to see…

15

…still waiting for ePIPO to send the ad viewer to me…

16

Woohoo! Money for nothing :smiley:
I got a check for $43 for September from AllAdvantage.com. Check it out :smiley:
http://fathom.org/opalcat/alladvantagecheck.jpg
(so far I’m over $70 for October)

>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions