Paid to Click Websites: Cash Cow or Con?

Maybe you've wondered about so-called "paid-to-click" websites at one time or another. Maybe you've dismissed them as scams. Maybe you've tried one, and had your worst suspicions confirmed. Or maybe you've never even heard of these self-proclaimed online money machines before.

When I first heard of PTC, I was skeptical. Having been involved with buisiness on the Internet since its inception, it seemed plausible that a person may be able to make money clicking through advertising. But plausible is a long way from real.

The way PTC works seems feasible. Advertisers pay to put up ads on the site. Users who click on those ads get a portion of that money, a penny or so for each click. The advertisers get guaranteed traffic to their own sites, where, presumably, some portion of those visitors buy whatever it is they're selling; the users get paid for doing the visiting; the PTC site owners keep a bit of the advertising fee for themselves. It seems to make sense (or 'cents' if you're a user). But as with all things that seem like easy money, one must proceed with suspicion.

I tried to do some background checking on the concept. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts scouring the Internet, I wasn't able to find a single bit of reliable information concerning the validity or viability of these kinds of "opportunities". Every one of these PTC websites is chock-full of "success story" testimonials, but those don't exactly inspire confidence. The site owners could have made them up, for all we know.

So, it seemed the only way I was going to be able to get to the bottom of this mystery was to see for myself - and then report my findings for your benefit, dear reader. I decided to do a study. I'd conduct an experiment to see what I could learn about the authenticity of PTC sites. To do so, however, I first had to set my skepticism (and common sense) aside.

That, because the first Red Flag of PTC comes when a user first signs up: the membership fee.

As a general rule, it is a very bad idea to work for or with any organization that charges you money in exchange for giving you the ability to earn money. Not only is that counterproductive for you, but it makes you wonder: if they're making money off of you joining, what incentive do they have to actually deliver any product or service at all?

That said, there are PTC's that let you join for free; you only pay for "premium" membership, which promises certain benefits like being paid more, paid faster, and other perks. I tried out a few of these free ones, but for science's sake, I swallowed my bile and purchased a couple of premium packages.

It was February of 2008 when I started. It took eight months to see any positive results at all. So much for "fast" money.

As you might expect, the vast majority of PTCs were total scams. Many went out of business or just outright vanished within a month or two. After all this time, and despite constant reassurance that checks were in the mail, only three sites have actually paid me.

The first two were affiliated with each other, and neither produced very much. I had to pay a monthly fee of about $10 in order to get a monthly payout of about $12. I might have gotten more if I'd invested some extra cash (you can buy 'referrals' on most of these kinds of sites, and you earn money from the work they do too), but I only budgeted myself $600 dollars to flush down the online toilette for this inquest.

What sites they were no longer matters: even though they did really pay me - in a timely fashion, even - they've both gone the way of the do-do.

The remaining site, which I had shelled out a fee to become a "premium member" of, was anything but timely in paying me. I requested a payout on March 5^th, 2008. The site owners guaranteed payment within 60 business days, 30 for premium members. So much for that...

The explanation as to why it takes so long to actually deliver on earnings (which made me very suspicious) is that they need to "audit" every single payment request, to make sure that everyone is complying with the terms of service at all times. Given that, I wasn't surprised when 30 days came and went, then 60... then 90...

And there were doubtful events aplenty while I was waiting. On day 89, for example, site administrators posted an advisory that due to technical difficulties, they wouldn't be able to make any payments for "an indeterminate period of time."

Yeah, right, I thought.

I had just about given the entire project up as a failure when those two sites that paid went belly up. I'd gotten my findings - even in the rare case where a site does pay up, at a net gain of about $2 a month, PTC is far more trouble than it's worth. Remember, you still have to do all that clicking to earn your meager wage.

But before I had a chance to write this article detailing my findings (this whole project was back-burner), I got a surprise. That one site, the one that claimed it takes almost three months to click 'send' on a payment authorization, amazingly came through.

On September 30^th, just shy of eight months waiting, I finally received my payment from the last remaining website: www.Bux.to. For a whopping $14.50. (Cheer?)

On this particular site, you cannot request a payout while you have one pending. So, in that eight months, the balance due me had grown quite substantially. Now, on paper at least, I was owed a little over $3,000. Not bad for a $600 investment. But how long will it be before that payment comes in (if at all)?

How will it all turn out? Only time will tell. For now, the results aren't conclusive. Three paying sites out of a veritable sea of fraud isn't exactly an awe-inspiring turn of events.

For the time being, I must advise extreme caution for those of you daring enough to try out PTC for yourselves. A huge number of sites can and will take your money then close up shop. Even if you don't pay them for "premium" services, you're still more likely than not to be wasting your time.

And though it goes without saying, never EVER give your personal financial information to anyone you do not know and trust completely - and even then, make sure you have a secure, encrypted connection.

UPDATE: July 20, 2010

It's been 20 months since I wrote this article, so I decided the time to make rounds was well overdue. I was astonished to find that Bux.to, the site I made $3000 on, still exists. I'm less surpirsed by the fact that well over a year later my payment is still "pending". So for all practical purposes, though the site remains, there is no one behind the controls.

There are fresh posts in the testimonials section. Just today, someone was reveling in the fact that he's finally been paid. Maybe someday my earnings will come through as well - but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I invite you to draw your own conclusions based on my experiences. Better than 90% of PTC sites are con games, pure and simple. For those few that aren't, is $2 a month worth the effort? Is eight months worth the wait for $14.50? Did I really earn $3000, given that more than a year and a half later, the payment is still "pending"?