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I first started working GPT programs back in 2000. I spent about a year as a hardcore GPT user, doing it all: Paid To Surf, Paid To Read, Paid To Click, Manual Surf, AutoSurf, Traffic Exchanges even bubbles and HYIP. The few “profits” I made were basically dumped back in to advertising and membership upgrades. Profits needs to be in quotes because I was spending 70-80% of my online time working these programs. And that time wasn’t exactly trivial. Then, as now, I was online an average of 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I learned a quite a few lessons in that year. Unfortunately, I never learned how to actually make any money.
I came back into the GPT world in June. This time my expectations are much lower and the community itself is a lot different. Very few of the programs I worked years ago are still around, which shouldn’t really be surprising. Many of the same scams are being run, though, which also isn’t surprising, though it’s just as sad. The biggest change is the near absence of Paid To Surf or PTS programs. Sure, traffic exchanges still exist, but they’re more about promotion then about revenue generation, which is how it should be. Pay per click/read/etc is also MUCH lower then it was then. Very few companies now offer even $0.01 per ad, where the standard price back then was closer to a nickel.
The largest change, though is in payout levels. Average payout back then was around $10.00. even at $0.05 per click that was a VERY long haul. These days, there are numerous programs without a minimum payout at all. Some pay weekly, others monthly, but finding legitimate programs with payout minimums under $2 isn’t difficult.
The other large change is in referral levels. When I was active in th epast the move was towards mor e and more levels, with smaller percentages at each level. I clearly remember one program that offered referral earnings for 35 levels of downline. These days you’d be hard pressed to find a new program offering more than 3 referral levels, and most programs only pay at a single level. However, those programs are offering much higher percentages on those levels. ShadowPTR and Myster-E-Mail, who have paid me consistently, offers 25% of your referrals earnings and Fishing4Mails offers an astounding 50%. This means that if you are a good promoter, you no longer need to count on your downline being good promoters as well. And if you’re not a good promoter (as I am not) then you can still make significant profits from your downline.
Other things haven’t changed at all. The GPT world is still one of the most incestuous I’ve ver seen. 99% of the ads you’ll be paid to read are for other programs looking to pay you to read their ad. This has always been, and will continue to be, the GPT community’s Achilles heel. Real advertisers aren’t interested in incentivized views. They know that the viewers are more interested in getting paid then in spending money.
Given my negative past with Get Paid Programs, why am I stepping back in at this point? Well, that’s a question for another day.
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