Paybar: The Bar That Still Pays
Written: Nov 17 '01 (Updated Mar 16 '02)
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The Bottom Line
You don't have to do much to make money with Paybar.
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| Full Review |
Call me silly for using a get-paid-to-surf program now, but I had heard from trusted sources --- not just random people soliciting referrals --- that Paybar actually does pay. It takes some time to reach the $20 minimum but, in the end, you'll get your hard-earned money through Paypal or by check. You choose.
Paybar will reward you with $0.60 for every 1000 ads viewed, and you have to be actively using your computer or the viewbar will stop counting after 3 minutes. Bear in mind that this is not a per-hour rate, and that you will only be paid for viewing 15,000 ads a month, bringing your maximum personal earnings per month to $9 only. Given that, it will take at least 3 months to reach the minimum payout level without any referrals. Admittedly, these earnings are not much and you probably won't get far if you don't have at least 2 or 3 referrals.
Speaking of referrals, you'll get $0.15 for every 1000 ads viewed by your direct referrals and $0.05 for every 1000 ads viewed by your indirect referrals (people referred by your referrals --- 5 levels deep). My referrals showed up in my account immediately after they registered. No problems there.
One of the things I like most about Paybar is that it doesn't make my computer crash or slow down one bit. This is really very surprising, and it must be the only viewbar that doesn't do so. The only itch is that if I disconnect from the Internet without turning Paybar off first, it takes forever to log off. However, this is easily remedied by going to my Task Manager (Windows 2000) and ending the process from there.
You'll be paid as long as your net connection is live and you've been moving your mouse around or typing something (but NOT by using a cheat program!). The active window does not have to be your internet browser, like most get-paid-to-surf programs require. For example, I'm writing this review in MS Word right now, and it's still counting up banner views.
Some times the viewbar refuses to recognize my user ID and I have to try two or three times before finally getting through. The ID, by the way, is extremely long and I haven't bothered to learn it up by heart. If the viewbar isn't on, or isn't working, I always have to copy-and-paste it from my email before being able to access my stats . Ofcourse, it's also saved into the viewbar and I can just login through there.
Oh, and the popup ads! Every few minutes the viewbar produces ads in popup windows. Highly irritating, I must say! Even if you don't close the last popup window, another one is bound to pop up.
I can't say the website is at all professionally designed. Information available is quite sparse, and I was left hanging with some questions at first. But customer service is great: My queries were answered very quickly. Account information is fairly basic --- it shows stats for the current and previous months for you and your referrals, and you can view your payment history or change your information. Stats are updated every 10 minutes or so.
If you opt for Paypal as your payment, you'll get an extra dollar along with your earnings; This is probably because Paypal doesn't have any mailing costs. Non-US members have no choice but to use Paypal, and if you're a US member and don't want to use Paypal, you'll have to wait till you reach $50 for a check. Earnings are sent within 60 days after the end of any month in which you reach the minimum.
The Better Business Bureau badge is, in a way, quite reassuring because you have to be a reliable program to join. The BBB does not guarantee any of its members performance, however: it's just that they're required to keep to the standards.
The only thing I'm worried about that I know will eventually pull Paybar down is that almost all their ads are CPA (Cost Per Action). This means that they only get paid if a user actually shops or signs up for a program, which is less often, and not if they just view or click an ad.
I mainly use Paybar so that I can recharge my Paypal account. The viewbar docked the bottom of my screen doesn't bother me much because, like I said earlier, their viewbar doesn't slow my computer down and I don't even notice it all that much.
UPDATE: As predicted, "Due to a lack of advertising inventory, the PayBar service has been discontinued indefinitely."
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
navinthebean
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Member: Navin
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 46 members
About Me:
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people?
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