a guide to 'get paid to surf the web' programs

Hints & Tips

F.A.Q.

What is a Get Paid To Surf program?
Get Paid To Surf programs pay you to have adverts displayed on an adbar or viewbar, whilst you are surfing the Internet. Most of these companies require that you download some software, which when run, docks a bar next to your browser and displays adverts. You are then paid a certain rate for the time you have adverts displayed. Therefore whenever you are connected to the Internet and have the adbar/viewbar running you will be earning money, and this is essentially what Paid-To-Surf Programs are.

What is a Get Paid To Search Program?
Get Paid To Search programs pay you for searching the Internet using their web portal. Most companies pay each time you do a search (for example $0.03 per search). Some programs require you to visit a page that appears on the search results, others do not.

What is a Get Paid For Having A Start Page Program?
These programs pay you for setting your startpage to their website. You get paid a certain amount each time you visit their page.

What do I have to do to be paid?
First chose the programs you want to sign up to, then click join. Once you have done that you register with the company and receive a username and password. You then use this to log in, and you will then download the software that displays the adverts. Then launch your browser, open the ad bar, and surf the Web. The ad bar records your time while you're actively surfing, and they pay you for it.

How much will I get paid?
The amount you earn varies with each program. Some companies pay a flat rate for the time you are connected to the Internet, and this is usually between $0.20 and $0.50 per hour. Other companies however pay a percentage of net advert revenue generated by members, this will usually be around 60 or 70 percent, and because of this, what you earn per hour may vary between months. All of the programs pay you more when you refer others to their program. Some of the companies also have a maximum usage, for example 40 hours. The bottom line is you can make from $20 to many thousands per month depending on how much time you spend online, and how many referrals you have. Actually, these programs can be quite profitable. With a large referral base, some people make hundreds a month off some programs. Using multiple programs and having a large amount of referrals help increase this figure. Even if you have no referrals, you can still make around $20 to $40 a month.

What is a referral?
The Get Paid To Surf companies will pay you extra money to sign up your friends. Instead of just giving you money right there on the spot, they will give you a small percentage of what your referral earns in the program or dollars per hours. You also get paid for your referral's referrals, and your referral's referrals and so on (how many levels this goes down depends on the company).

How does the referral system work?
With the referral program, you can increase your earnings considerably. Basically if you refer friends to the program, you get paid a percentage of what they make (this does not effect their earnings). Then when your friends refer their friends you get a percentage of what they make, and this continues with their friends and their friend's friends and so on. How many levels this goes back depends on the company. Here is an example to try to explain things more clearly.

Example:
Company pay $1.0 an hour for surfing
Referral rates are: 1st 10% (your referrals), 2nd 5%(your referral's referrals) 3rd 2.5% (your referral's referral's referrals).
You have: 10 1st referrals, 20 2nd referrals and 40 3rd referrals and everyone surfs for 20 hours.

You will receive $20.00 just for your hours.
Your 1st referrals will each receive $20.00 each for their surfing and you will be paid an extra $2.00 for referring each totalling $20.00.
Your 2nd referrals will each receive $20.00 each for their surfing and you will be paid an extra $1.00 for referring each totalling $20.00.
Your 3rd referrals will each receive $20.00 each for their surfing and you will be paid an extra $0.50 for referring each totalling $20.00.
This has now increased your monthly total from $20.00 to $100.00 without you doing anything other than your 20 hours surfing. Not bad hey!
Please note: The above example only covers your totals and doesn't take into account the extra money your 1st referrers would get from referring your 2nd referrers and 2nd referrers referring your 3rd referrals.

How do I receive my money?
Normally, by cheque.

When do I get paid?
Companies normally pay once a month. However, there is usually a minimum amount of earnings you may have to reach before they send out your check. This again varies between companies but is usually around $20.00. If your earnings are below the minimum pay amount, they are carried forward to the next month, and that month's surfing added to the total.

Do I have to be browsing the Internet to receive ads?
Some companies require you just to be connected to the Internet and have their adbar displayed. Therefore as long as the bar is displayed you could be writing a letter, listening to music or whatever. Some companies however, require you to fulfil certain conditions to show you are actively surfing the Internet and not just starting the adbar and walking away. For example, Desktop Dollars require you click 'continue' on the bar every 15 to 35 minutes. With Get Paid 4, you must move the mouse at least one time per minute, and users should click on 0.5-5% of the adverts that are displayed to qualify for payment.

Is this going to cost me anything?
Nothing. These programs are all free.

What do I do if I want to stop receiving ads for good?
Simply uninstall the ad-bar and send an email to the company asking to be removed. Normally you will have to provide your UserID and password in the mail.

Can I use these programs on more than one computer?
In most cases yes you can.

Can I use more than one 'get paid' program at the same time?
Yes. You can join as many programs as you wish! You can run several ad bars at the same time; it's just a question about seeing more than the bars on the screen.

Which program should I join?
Look at the programs listed on this site and see which suit your Internet usage best. You can sign up to as many as you want, but look at the Hints & Tip section for more information.