No Advantage with AllAdvantage
Written: Nov 03 '00 (Updated Nov 03 '00)
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I joined All Advantage not long after its launch; back when it was a leader in pay to surf programs. Unfortunately, many changes in their pay-out policies have made me lose interest in using their Viewbar.
When they first started, they paid 50 cents (US) an hour with a maximum surf time of 25 hours. I also made 10 cents an hour for every hour a referral surfed. I thought it was an easy way to make lots of extra money while doing something I already did anyway… surf the Internet.
Like your average user, I could only scrounge up a handful of referrals, but the little bit they helped me earn was fine by me. I was excited when I actually received my first check from All Advantage. They actually paid me $28 back when the minimum payout was $20. I was skeptical about pay-to-surf programs, but the people at All Advantage followed through.
It’s too bad they made so many changes. They have made so many that I can’t even remember all the details, but I believe it went something like this. They increased the pay to 53 cents per hour, but decreased the maximum hours per month to 15. This lowers the maximum amount one could make with no referrals from $12.50 to $7.95. That’s a pretty big difference. They also increased the minimum pay-out to $30, which would take a very long time to achieve alone.
Luckily, I had my small handful of referrals to help me reach that minimum, right? Wrong. All my referrals slowly lost interest in the program and stopped using it. Some had slower computers or connections. The Viewbar slowed down their surfing. Others disliked the new change. So now I had to somehow make the minimum payout alone while only earning $7.95 a month.
I stopped keeping up to date with any changes, but I did continue using the program. There were at least a couple more changes where the hourly pay went down, decreasing my monthly income even more. Now, there isn’t even a significant pay out. New users earn up to 10 entries a day to enter daily drawing of $50,000 where the winner wins $25,000 and the rest is distributed between up to five of his or her referrals. If he or she does not have enough referrals, the excess is put into a Monthly Drawing pot, which accumulates throughout the month. One Monthly Winner is drawn at the end of the month. If the new user is ineligible to enter the contest due to his or her country of residence, or the user is a current member who opts to continue using the Alternative Rewards Program rather than being in the Sweepstakes Program they can continue making money surfing rather than being entered in the contest.
Those who are in the Alternative Rewards Program make a whopping 20 cents an hour with a maximum of 20 hours per month, which equates to a whole $4 per month and a minimum pay-out of $25. Being the lone user with his AWOL referrals, I might actually reach the pay-out minimum in seven months. Knowing this, and having a balance close to $0 because I had recently received a check, I chose to enter the Sweepstakes Program and try my luck. Seeing that I would be earning next to nothing anyways, I might as well see if I can be a lucky $25,000 winner. Yeah right… but you never know.
The main reason I continue to use the program is to have at least one hour per month to keep my account, and to avoid a service charge of $6 for not actively using the program. Yes, they CHARGE you $6 for the first month and $2 a month there after if you do not use your account for two months straight. This happened to my girlfriend. Luckily (if you can call it lucky), they do not charge you anything if your balance reaches zero. I want to keep my account just incase they ever change the program into one that I would like to more actively participate in. Until then, I turn on the Viewbar from time to time, and get about 2 hours of use out of it per month. I get a couple entries a day in, but I haven’t won a sweepstakes yet.
I definitely would not suggest All Advantage to anyone right now. Maybe if they make another change, but it doesn’t sound like they will be making any changes anytime soon.
--Update--
I forgot to mention that All Advantage has another program along with the Viewbar called Advantage grams. From time to time, All Advantage will send you an email promoting a company based on the information gathered by your Viewbar of internet sites that you visit. You get paid something like 5 cents for every Advantage gram you receive. I believe this program began last April. To date, I have received ONE. Thank you All Advantage for earning me a five pennies.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
rodeo7
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Member: Eddie
Location: Virginia, USA
Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 71 members
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