That was a post I wanted to write since long ago, but I had to sort my memories before.
I'm "playing" in the "paid to" world since more than 4 years now, and many transformations occured during these years.
When I began, it was the time of "annies biz" and "AprilGoldGetPaid2", seasoned PTer's will certainly remember.
At that time PTC was consisting mainly by clicking on banners which were also advertised on those sites, but on another page, separated from the "regular" mail messages.
You received mails either in your onsite inbox, or at your private email account (or both, ; though usually you had the choice)
Some sites did send loads of emails everyday, and the value was between $0.001 and $0.01 (1 cent value was however rare), and it was almost a pain to click all these links daily.
Then there was a first turn : searches !!
Do you remember searches? all those searches...hundreds of searches...it was very time consuming.
Then, search engines did get upset (because, after all, all these searches were not natural : I mean, you didn't search because you needed to search something particular or enquire about something, you searched because you were paid for that)
Nowadays, the large majority of GPT sites are PTC (as opposed to the "old" ones who were mainly PTR), but with the difference that it's not clicking on banners anymore but clicking on links without having to read a whole mail message and check if it's a cheat link or not.
Anti cheat measures are different, GPT industry is also very different, although it's goal is still the same. : cheap advertising for advertisers, little earnings for the clickers, and obviously a little benefit for the program owner.
The last "fashion" is the "BUX" sites...what will be the next one?
The "old standard" GPT do still exist, with regular mails, as well as searches ; some of the best did survive, but they're certainly do not belong to the current standard anymore.
One of these little gems is one of my preferred programs, I always had wonderful answer to my advertising (you can read more about it here )
Nothing stays the same, everything moves and evolves, but in fact nothing changes...
Sadly, Velocity Clicks turned out to be a SCAM... while I hate to be one of the first calling a program scam, I have also to inform my readers when I'm sure that one or another program turns bad. Especially when that said program is still up and running...It's my duty to warn my readers that subscribing there would be a loss of time as well as a source of deception. I did also send a private message through VC to all my active referrals.
The story :
Velocity clicks was very promising, and paying very fast too (read my review here) he did pay me as well as thousand of members before the beginning of a very complicate "story".
Soon after the opening, and as the site was growing very fast (about 500 members joined daily) some forums and people already mentionned that Velocity Click's owner was a certain Eric Lew, former owner of Icashout (a site who vanished, letting all its members unpaid, and a recognized scam).
As I said above, I usually hate to follow the first scam callings, as I prefer to see for myself how things are turning, so I was actively reading articles and threads about VC, but decided to keep on clicking there (at that time I hadn't reached my first payout, and I'm happy I did click further, because at least I was paid for it). But also, when having numerous sites telling it could be a scam, I was at least a bit wary and did not invest in upgrades or referrals.
Though, then, just after my first payout, the "mess" began seriously :
As answer to threads that were accusing him to be that "Eric Lew from I cashout" the owner of VC defended himself by telling he was not. At that time, VC's owner was still very much communicating through forums( his own as well as many other).
After a few weeks, allthough members were happy with the payouts (which were very fast and always done) a number of complaints concerning referral sales appeared on these forums and at the VC forum as well.
People were complaining referrals did vanish from their downline, other mentionned that they did buy referral packs but that almost all of them were inactive.
Though it's the risk when you buy referrals, VC had a replacement policy and members wanted their "inactives" replaced, which is legitimate. Conveniently, this replacement policy was suddenly non applicable, or only applicable if... (various changes were done)...
At VC forum, posts stating this vanished overnight, and a few days later the forum itself was unreachable during a few days. After it's reopening, 3 days were missing and it was told to members that he had to backup three days ahead as the most recent backups had not been done..go figure...
You can read further about here :
*Long thread with the whole story
* thread from Assoth
In the following week, suddenly, site as well as forum were unreachable, and at a dedicated PT forum, there were posts from a certain Assoth, former mod from VC forum telling that he had been abused by VC's owner, that it was really the scammer Eric Lew who lied to everybody and, last but not least, that he (Assoth) did hack the site as a revenge, and stole all the money in Velocity click's Alertpay account...
The site came back online 2 days after, but with strange signs, showing it could be a scam ...80 to 100 links everyday (only around 15 before), no online support anymore, no forum as well (and forum never came back online)
At that time I was very close to 2nd payout, so I decided to continue clicking even though...and as soon as I reached $10, I asked for payout.
My payout was placed in "pending" which is normal, but 3 days after , it showed as "paid" in my VC account but this was NOT TRUE! My Alertpay account did not have any incoming money transfer...
I would have bother writing to support, but I had also friends who were member at VC, and it was exactly the same for them : account showing "paid" as they were not.
Velocity click is now a proven scam who DOES NOT pay its members. It's sad, because it had a very promising beginning, and with all this story, I still don't know who scammed who (the owner or Assoth), but what I know is that at the end it were the members who have been scammed...as usual...
This is just a little wink to whom it may concern :o) (and you know who you are). I don't want to breach your privacy, but if you agree, I can also put a backlink to you here, lol!
Thank you!
So the table is set : coffee , donuts, newspaper hope you will enjoy!!
And to all my other readers, take a sit and share with us !! The expresso machine is full and I bought a truck of donuts !!
Auto-clickers (or bots) become a real menace for PTC industry lately, and maybe you did already notice that many PTC sites implemented more and more anti-cheat measures.
What's a auto-clicker you may ask?
An autocliker is a software that automates clicks and allows dishonest members to cheat a PTC program. Thus in order to earn a max commission in a minimum amout of time. Usually, and that's the common rule, members do first have to log in their account, and then click on the available links, one after another, waiting each ad to have it's timer over.
With an auto-clicker, everything is automated, except the account login. That means the member has still to log in his account, set the bot and than the software will scan the page for links and auto-click of them. And all of this runs in the background.
UNFAIR !
Obviously, as these clicks are not "human" ones, they are strictly forbidden, and considered as cheating and illegal in each serious program TOS. After all, the goal of a PTC site, is to actually SHOW ads to people. If no one looks at the displayed ads, no advertiser will buy ad campains ...as they'll see their ads were not effective, and won't come back anymore.
And a program who can't sell ads anymore, will die soon.
It's also highly unfair for honnest members, If I am an advertiser, and buy, for example a 1 cent to 1000 members, my ad will maybe be clicked by 100 bots and deprive 100 other members, honnest ones, from wieving my ad, and earning a comission for it. I will be deceived by the results of my campain won't advertise there anymoreand won't be the only one .
The program won't have any more ads to show, the programm owner will be broken by having paid out cheaters, and will maybe not be able to pay the reamining payout requests. Bots will have killed the site!!
What 's the risk to use autoclickers?
If the Program Owner finds out You use that type of software (and believe me they will investigate your account before paying you, especially since the use of bots became so important) you'll lose ALL your earnings and be BANNED. It may seem to you it's "working" and it can work a while, but as soon you'll request payment, your account will be checked.
PO's do talk together, at least some of them, some also do post in PTC dedicated forums and they'll maybe give usernames from those who had been found cheating, so you even risk to lose your earnings and accounts at several programs.
Another thing is often forgotten by the autoclickers users : many of these bots are "rotten", I mean when you download them, and also when using them.
Some of them have built-in trojans and other kinds of nasty crap such as virii, worms aso. while some other do load them during the sofware download.
If you're worried by your security and your PC's health, know that by downloading these bots, you put yourself at risk. You should better think twice before downloading this kind of programs...
What do PTC owners do to prevent the use of auto-clickers?
Well, several measures have took place in order to get rid of this. Many POs did even set up several different anti-cheat systems, as one alone could be not enough to spot a bot. This can include
- Login page with touring number (CAPTCHA)
- End of timer with CAPTCHA, or at any other time in the ad
- Cheat links (a link clearly noted as "cheat link do not click", but the bot will only see a link, not read what's specified above, and will click even though)
- Session time out
- IP monitoring
- Simple questions or mathematic operations asked before accessing the ad or after the timer is finished
Other measures that I'm not aware of do certainly exist too...
In conclusion, If you began PTC, it's certainly because you like it, it's not a hard job, and well paid for what has to be done. If you want to be paid for it in the long run, cheating the program is really a bad idea.
If you find it's a too hard work...then think about quitting PTC and do something else.
Advertisers wants to show their ads to real people, and as long as this happens, they'll keep on spending money in PTC, and we will keep on earning...
So...think twice....for your earnings, and for your computer health, DO NOT USE AN AUTOCLICKER!
This is what Qassia can do for you!
It can:
You can add your websites, and get unlimited quality backlinks. There is no need to pay, or to link back to Qassia. Websites are processed instantly and ranked by the amount of credits you have amassed. To earn credits, you can add intel, i.e. tidbits of intelligence.
Why is Qassia needed?
Promoting a new site has never been easy, and it's getting tougher every day. Site owners are forced to spend hours upon hours doing mundane and unproductive tasks such as exchanging links. Many give up, and splurge on advertising - which is why Google Adwords earns $1 billion per quarter.
How will Qassia generate traffic?
Qassia is fantastic because you get credit for sharing your intelligence. The more credit you earn, the better your websites will rank. And you get a backlink to your website for every intel you add - only Qassia gives you unlimited quality backlinks.
This provides incentive for site owners to contribute to Qassia. Thus harnessing the minds of millions, Qassia will become the largest repository of intelligence on the web.
Give it a try, check it out, register your user name and your site(s), and see what happens. You can post your articles to Qassia as well, and the more you add to the site, the more Qassia
dollars you'll accumulate.
You'll need an invite to register, it's just here > Qassia
Well, we do all need traffic, and are seeking readers for our blogs, be it on Technorati, MyBlogLog, or anywhere else helping us to show our blogs.
CLICKYU
Today I have signed up at Clickyu. I thought about doing so since a certain time already, and when I saw an ad for this program today, I decided to give it a try.
Membership :
As free member you will get 0.75 cent per ad you view
0.25 for each ad your referrals view.
As a premium member you will get 1 cent per ad you view
0.5 cent for each ad your referrals view.
Payout : $5
Upgrade :
Right now, Clickyu has 2 very interesting offers : regular premium Membership is $29.99 for 1 year BUT through March this upgrade will be offered for $19.99 AND the first 100 will get this upgrade for life !!
This is what you get when you upgrade :
- 1 cent per click
- 5 free referrals if available
- 15 second timer
- Double first level referrals earnings from 0.25 cents to 0.50 cents per click
- Priority Payments - get paid in less than 2 days.
- Priority Support
You can also puchase referrals at this rate :
They have a 10 referrals package for $9.95Advertising :
This month Clickyu offers also very interesting deals concerning advertising, hereunder regular as well as advertising special 1/2 price (even more than 1/2, the more you buy the cheaper it is!) :
- 100 Member visits
$3>>>>>$1.76 - 250 Member visits
$7>>>>>$3.49 - 500 Member visits
$14>>>>$6.38 - 1000 Member visits
$28>>>>$12.15 - 2000 Member visits
$50>>>>$23.70 - 3000 Member visits
$75>>>>$35.25 - 5000 Member visits
$125>>>$58.35 - 10000 Member visits
$250>>>$116.10
PLUS Blog Special ! : once you're a member and if you have a blog you'll get 1 free referral if you post about their advertising special (bloglink has to be submitted via Clickyu's contact page)
My opinion :
Though it's still a bit early to have a firm opinion about Clickyu, I think it's a very promising site. Seeing their offers concerning upgrade and advertising, I did something I've never done and upgraded immediately. I'm now Member4 life and got my 5 referrals (who by the way are active ones>> I do precise it because often sites do not check if the refs they allow are or not active)
Concerning advertising rates, the site seems sustainable.
Since hours now the site seems to be down
Server problems?
SCAM ?
Don't know what to think about, but CAUTION!!
Will keep you all informed
____________________________________________________________________
I was doing my daily clickings when I clicked on an ad for a new program which is still in prelaunch.This new site is Buxplus.org and will be on prelaunch until tomorrow. So this is the time to catch in and begin your referral quest!
Here is Buxplus offers
- Membership is FREE. + $0.10 signup bonus.
- Earn a very generous $0.01 per link clicked.
- Earn a very generous $0.01 for each website your referals view.
- Realtime reports of your earnings.
- Get paid to Play.
- Click & Referral contests.
Payments are processed through AlertPay, E-gold, Liberty Reserve and PayPal.
NO MINIMUM PAYOUT !!
The last week was very active concerning PTR for me. After 2 weeks, I began to check all the "Paid to" programs I belong to since recently, and to separate those I would keep and those I would unsubscribe from.
This is not always an easy task...
When it is only about removing scam programs, the decision is not hard to take, but, as I'm revolving around the "Paid to" sphere since quite a long time, I do not very often sign into blatant scams anymore (happens sometimes though, lol). So this jobs consists more in supressing those who are not working for me.
This because of various reasons, including (but not limited at) :
- the weak amount of mail received
- what I earned during my test period (this depending also from the payout minimum at a particular site)
For example :
- Program A sends me 10 mails/day at a 1 cent rate, and the payout minimum is $10 (I obviously keep)
- Program B sends me around 10 mails /day at 1/4 cents rate but the payout is $2 (I'll certainly keep)
- Program C sends me also 10 1/4 cents a day but payout is $10 (I'll certainly unsubscribe)
- Program D sends me 1 cent link , but only 2 a day (I'll certainly unsub too)
Programs I unsubscribe from are NOT TO BE classified as scams. If ever I notice there's a evident scam in "Paid To" sites I'm member of, I will cleearly label it and write a warning here in my blog.
The second part of my last's week job was also to find new programs to test.
Sites I unsubscribed from :
Matrix Mails (allthough this is a very good site with established reputation, I receive such a low amount of mails that it'll take me ages to reach payout)
AdPaid.com : Same problem as Matrix Mails (in worse for me : I signed up on 02/12/08, and so far made only $0.0321)
Sites on hold : Updated here !!
Kooplinks (I just love this site, the webmaster and the staff are super nice, but not much clicks for me. HOWEVER if you like Paid To Signup, it's a great site ! and the payout is only 0.02! That's why I have kept it "on hold" right now, I'll take my decision later, the site is still very new)
Sites I signed in : (they're all reviewed in detailed posts )
10Bux : The advertising hit of the moment... (review done, click here to read)
Hugebux (review done click here )
BuxOne (review in "construction")
Wordlinx (review done click here )
Isabelamarco's moneymaker (review done, click here to read)
WORDLINX
Wordlinx is another good and established program I joined last week. They have been in business for over than 4 years and have almost 57000 members.
They have also a different approach on PTC, as you can directly use what you've earned through your cliks to buy visitors for your own advertisement campain.
Make sure you join their mailing list as they'll pay you upto 5 cents just to read their update mails, and you can also earn from $0.01 to $0.05 for emails sent by advertisers through that mailing list.
Membership :
$0.01 per link clicked (as a free member you'll receive around 4-5 links daily, sometimes more, sometimes less)
$0.005 per referral click
Minimum payout is $10 through Paypal
You an buy referrals at $1 each, but they don't always have available referrals to buy, however, when all are sold out, they do give a date when you'll be able to buy .
They have 3 different upgrades :
Verified Membership $5 per year :Verified Buyer Status Tells advertisers you can buy online, and your own ads are targeted at other verified buyers
100 Visitors will be Added To Your Account Advertising sample, worth $2.10 (once)
Premier membership $10 per month : you will have the verified status +
Unique Visitor Targeting (Each member can only click your link once)
Visitor Location Targeting (Target regions like America, UK and Europe)
Half Price Visitor Fees (5% + $0.50) >>Pay less when buying visitors
Pro membership $25 per month :Same features as Premier membership +
Half Price Visitor Fees (5% + $0.50) >Pay less when buying visitors
Half Price Banner Ads (just $25 p/m!) >Pay less when buying banner advertising
Half Cashout Level (just $5 instead of $10)
2 x Affiliate Earnings (10% per sale) >Earn double when your referrals buy visitors
2 x Referral Earnings (10% per click)
2 x Referral Bonuses ($0.10 each) >Referral must click an advert to qualify
2 x Upgrade Bonuses ($2.00 each!)> Referral must upgrade to qualify
3 x Bonus Earnings ($0.45 per $10!) >Earn triple bonuses when browsing ads
1000 Visitors Added To Your Account
100 Visitors Per Active Referral (Referral must click 50 adverts to qualify)
Advertising :
Wordlinx has different means of advertising, at rates beginning at $6.50 for a full campain (to the whole member base)
You can also advertise to the 4500 confirmed e-mail subscribers and the price begins at $59 (for $0.01 mails) up to $249 (for $0.05 mails). These will be unique visitors, as only one e-mail will be sent to each subscriber.
Obviously you can also choose banner advertising. For $50 per month., your banner will be displayed at the "browse ads" page and will be seen by all the members.
As of today, I'm fully satisfied with this program, I'm not upgraded and have no referrals, and I did earn around 40 cents in a week or so, which is a very honnest rate.
I foresee to upgrade as verified as soon as I can, in order to receive more ads daily.
I'm confident about this site, as it's in the business since more than 4 years, and are also sustainable.
Kooplinks
If you've read my post about "springtime clean", you've probably noticed that I was a member at Kooplinks, and that this site was "on hold" concerning my decision to keep it or leave it.
Astonishingly (and I'm happy to have waited before deciding), just a few days after I wrote that post, the number of links available to click increased significantly (for example, today I had about 10 links to click, which is an honnest rate).
That's why I review this site now, as I choosed to keep it.
I'll not enter in details concerning Kooplinks. Their choice and variety of possible advertisings, as well as different premium memberships and referral packages is so wide that it'll be much better for you to see for yourself at their site.
Here 's just a little general information :
> The site opened on Feb 7th 2008
> You get paid $0.0025 up to 0.01
> The minimum payout is $0.02 (2 cents)
My opinion :
This site climbed at almost 9000 members in less than a month, and the communication skills from owner and staff did certainly much to bring this site were it is now.
I already loved this site and was a bit dissapointed when I saw I had not much to click on. Now that ad rate did increase, I'm very happy to have decided to wait and think before leaving.
What I love with this site is the very low payout (remember, 2 cents !), this payment can even be automated to receive it daily (when available on your balance) through Paypal Mass-payout.
Communication coming from staff is remarkable since the beginning concerning informing members on updates or anything important.
The choice of advertsing means and upgrade possibilities is so huge that I doubt I could find more at any other site. (at least not at those I'm member of)
To summarize, this site is almost perfect, and best from all, is also sustainable!
Hugebux
HugeBux started the 14th jan. and counts now around 800 members.
Membership :
$0.01 per link clicked
$0.005 for each link your referals view
Minimum payout is $10 through PayPal (may be removed), Moneybookers , E-gold, or Alertpay
With upgrade :
- +15% first level referrals earnings more, that means $0.00575.
- +25% increase in personal clicks ($0.0125)
- 5 free referrals to your downline.
- Priority Payments - get paid in less than 2 Days.
Premium Membership is $ 7.99 for a 2 months membership
You can purchase un-referred HugeBux members at this price (different sets) :
3 referrals set : $3
10 referrals set : $9.50
20referrals set : $18.50
100 referrals set : $92.50
Advertising :
Members can only click on your ad once every 24 hours. Non members hits are free and unlimited.
Prices are as follow :
500 members visit : $3
1000 members visit : $5
2000 members visit : $9.50
3000 members visit : $14
5000 members visit : $18
10000 members visit : $35
20000 members visit : $67 .... (you can advertise up to 100 000 members)
My opinion
Nice site with around 5-10 ads per day.
The membership does however not grow very fast, and this site has still a long road to travel before it becomes a big hitter. But there's no reason , with a little more promotion, why they shouldn't progress.
Advertising rates are cheap, but still sustainable and with many options.
I look forward for their forum opening (still in "coming soon" ) and proofs of payment.
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