Making cash from online survey sites - new MSE guide

I've been doing Yougov surveys for a few years now, but signed up to a few more sites in October, and then a few more at the start of the year. This is how I've found them so far:

Yougov - I joined in 2007 and it took me till October last year to reach the £50 threshold. I did however ignore a lot of surveys over that time, but since October I have done all the paying ones I've been invited to and have £15 so far, so I'm hoping it should take less than 5 years this time round. The surveys are quite good, never too long and I have never been screened out of one.

The following were ones I joined in October:

Global Test Market - The one I've earned most money from so far, but also the one I spend the most time on. It's rare that a day goes by that I don't have an invite from them, but I do get screened out a lot. The surveys themselves can be hit or miss, quite a few are with external companies so some can be interesting and some can be tedious.

New Vista Live - The only one of the ones I joined in October I've got no money from yet, but does have the highest threshold (£50) and I'm around half way there. The surveys themselves to pay well for the length of them, there just isn't enough of them.

Panelbase - Don't get too many surveys from them. I once had a survey that was very tedious and took a good 20-30 minutes and when I got to the end it said my answers failed validation which I was obviously very annoyed about. Have had no such problems since and have reached pay out once, but this always sticks in the back of my mind.

My Survey - Very much a feast or famine of surveys for this one. It's only £3 threshold and I have gone from zero to pay out in one day before, but then can go for weeks with absolutely no surveys.

The rest of these are ones I joined at the start of the year:

Crowdology - The invites I get are quite often mini quizes which can be quite fun. Only need £4 to rech payout too. However, you do need to be quick as on more than one occasion I have gone to a survey around an hour after the invite to be told it is now closed.

Mind Mover - Invites are quite rare so can see it taking a while to reach payout. I honestly can't remember too much about the surveys I've taken which is probably a good thing as it shows I'm not getting irratated by them.

One Poll - Don't think they send out invites, but you get several small surveys when you log in. Quite often get screened out, but usually it happens after one question. I'm guessing that this may be a good one for single people it seems that the bulk of my screenouts come from saying I'm married in the first question.

Opinion Bar - This one seems a big waste of time. If I remember correctly, I got £1 for completing my profile which apparently gives me more survey opportunities. However, my balance has increased by just 20p since then and this was shortly after joining too. I think this is one where you can only do ones your invited to, but the invites never come.

Opinion World - When I first joined the surveys tended to just be prize draw ones rather than paying ones, but this has since improved. There does however appear to be no correlation between time spent on surveys. I'll get one invite saying 50p for a 5 minute survey, then the next one will be 50p for 30 minutes. It can also screen you out quite far into the survey which is annoying. They do have a lot of available surveys though.

Opinium - Similar to mind mover, haven't done that many surveys but the ones I've done haven't been too painful to do.

Populus Live - I think every survey I've been invited to take is about politics. They pay genorously for the surveys you get invited to, but invites can be quite rare.

Pure Profile - I was thinking this one was a waste of time. I remember spending a long time completing my profile only to find invites rare. They pay 5p if you get screened out of a survey, and up until a couple of weeks ago I only had 20p balance from 4 surveys I got screened out of. I have however discovered you can find surveys available to you by logging in a clicking the "Next Button" and I've finally managed to complete some surveys and my balance isn't looking that bad now.

Springboard - Gave me a good first impression with a couple of nice little surveys to complete. I was also asked how often I would like to receive invites to which I said every day. However, invites are very rare and as tings stand it looks like this is going to be the second slowest paying site after Opinion Bar. Shame because the surveys themselves are probably the nicest ones.

Surveyhead - I reached threshold on this one a few weeks back, but some of my surveys are still "pending". This is one where you will find more surveys on your dashboard when you log in. Of all the sites I joined in January, this is the one I have earned the most money on (in terms of balance). The surveys can be quite tedious though. Occasionally I get an invite for a 5 minute survey paying £3 (or similar) which I always get screened out of, then get offered a 30 minute survey for 72p which is rather annoying.

We Pay Per Survey - Only a £4 threshold, but surveys are quite rare. Often when I get invites, it tells me that I'm going to a specific survey but then fill out a couple of details, then go somewhere completely different, fill out the same details again, then go somewhere else again etc before being told they couldn't find me a suitable survey which is annoying

WH Smith - Think its the same people as We Pay Per Survey, and my experience is also the same.

Your say Pays - They send out invites randomly for available surveys so you need to check your account. This is going quite slowly but the surveys are nice and quick.

Of course it's still early days with a lot of them and I may change my mind in a few months time.