Disclaimer - I'm a Vividence employee and of course I am biased!

Ever sent a complaining (or praising) letter to a Web site?
Do you know who reads a Web site's customer email?
Where on the food chain of feedback does your email lie?

At the bottom, that's where. Enter Vividence.

If you've heard of Vividence, you've probably heard that it's a quick and fun way to get a $15 Amazon gift certificate on the Web. You sign up, await a testing opportunity, download a browser, and then you're off evaluating a web site for the next half hour.

Is $15 the only reason?

I get to represent the Web population when I give feedback. Let's face it, you're 100 times more likely to affect the Web's (usually crappy) experience by taking a Vividence test than if you were to email a Web site with a complaint.

Any disadvantages?

Mind you, you cannot choose which test you take -- you agree to test a site of Vividence's choosing. But that's the reason why your voice will be so powerful -- companies don't want people who only love or hate a site. They want a random sample. Enter you.

Another disadvantage is that you may not necessarily have a test waiting for you the minute you sign up -- the tests are opened and closed every so often so you have to wait for the opportunity.

What about Greenfield?

Greenfield asks a lot of marketing questions but doesn't let me check out a site and give it live feedback.

I gave up on Greenfield after doing about 20 surveys from them and getting $0 from their so-called sweepstakes. Sweepstakes are fine if it takes 1-2 minutes out of my day, but if I'm going to spend 20 minutes on a survey or a test, I want a real thank you!



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