heard of Nielsen//NetRatings?

In_Search_Of_Me

I've had an email invite from these and it looks like you download a prog & they monitor what you look for on the internet. I feel dubious about this and wonder if anyone has had any experience of them in terms of (a) any problems (b) do they ever actually pay out any prizes?!

dbarcl10

fishface-69 wrote: »

I've had an email invite from these and it looks like you download a prog & they monitor what you look for on the internet. I feel dubious about this and wonder if anyone has had any experience of them in terms of (a) any problems (b) do they ever actually pay out any prizes?!

This sounds good. Do they have a website to get more information?

f1re_cr4cker

they r legit and do pay out however i found the pop up programme really annoying so got rid!

Eos

They are legitimate. My mother has been taking part in their telephone surveys for several years. So the company is ok. It's just up to you whether you think it's worth the money.

homeworkeruk

I've been doing their TV surveys for a couple of years, where you report online daily to say what you've done the day before. THey don't pay automatically for this, but can win in the monthly draw. I've had several Amazon vouchers from them and they are one of the most established, well respected companies in this sector.

ali1972

I signed up for a whole load of surveys last summer (after a "website of the day" feature on them on Steve Wright's show) and I've been doing them on and off since then. I originally signed up for a load by using www.borntoloaf.co.uk and since then I've streamlined the group I subscribe to - and I REALLY recommend doing this, after you've got a feel for them, as otherwise you spend a lot of time doing soul destroyingly long surveys for no guaranteed reward.

TOP TIP No. 1: Set up a seperate email account for surveys only. It's worth spending the 5 or 10 minutes it takes to do this. You don't want all these emails coming through to your personal email account. Plus, some shoddier companies end up sending you junk.

TOP TIP No. 2: Don't sweat the small stuff. You will get screened out a lot of times with some companies. Don't fib when going through the screening process - they will eventually find you out and you won't get any more surveys. Plus, it defeats the object if you're not giving your honest opinion. Likewise, if a survey crashes... leave it. There will be plenty more. Move on...

TOP TIP No. 3: Good, legitimate companies will let you register yout details without registering your phone number. Most will need your address but won't send you mail other than vouchers/cheques. Good companies will also have clear privacy statements available. Be wary of any site which insists on having your phone number.

My top tips for legitimate survey companies with good rewards are these:

Yougov - they tend to pay £1 cash for each survey and once you get £50 they will send you a cheque. They are quick to download, quick and easy to fill in, and come through regularly. They also do prize draws and people really do win - I received a prize of £50 after I'd been with them for 6 months. The interesting thing is you read about yougov polls in the papers all the time, so you really feel that your opinion counts. You can get payments for recruiting new members as well.

IPSOS - they send surveys out on all sorts of topics. Some of them do take a while to complete but I recall you can leave them and come back to them later if you have to dash off somewhere. They pay you in vouchers for high street shops. I've found I can clock up points quite quickly and the vouchers make a dent in the xmas shopping very nicely.

Valued Opinions - I don't get as many of these but they also pay in high street vouchers. Worth signing up for.

Lightspeed - these guys come through with a lot of surveys, especially during the first half of the month. You collect points and can redeem them for items, vouchers, paypal deposits etc. Easy to clock up the points and another good one for making a dent in the xmas shopping.

Global Test Market - They send out surveys regularly and again it's easy to clock up points, especially as they often reward you with a few points if you get screened out of the survey early.

Test and Vote - these guys come through with quite a lot of surveys but I do get screened out about half of the time. However, you can also gain points by clicking on the polls on their website, as well as applying to test new products. I have been selected to test the odd product and it's quite interesting. Again, you collect points and then swap them.

TNS - great if you have a nectar card as you get nectar points for doing their surveys. Nicely presented surveys as well. Wish I got more of them.

Global Opinion Panel - (think they are also called Synovate) - I don't do many of these but one once led to a telephone followup which paid £30 in high street vouchers.

Ciao - they only pay pennies these days, but at least the surveys are much shorter (some just 3 minutes) and you can get through a few each week. You get screened out a lot but you can also earn pennies (literally) by writing reviews on their website. However, don't get into writing reviews without having read the advice on the website properly - a lot of other members on the site are (mmm, how shall I put it?) set in their ways and there is etiquette to be observed.

Pureprofile - don't hold your breath but you might eventually clock up enough points to get some cash.

Surveys.com - pay in ipoints. You can also clock up a lot of points through the ipoints website and by clicking through to websites they email you about.

GFK - Worth doing if you can get onto their television and radio panels. You log on from about 10 times a month to every day, for just a few minutes, and answer questions on what you watched/listened to the day before. Quick and people really do win the prize draws. You need to be invited to join this one. I was invited via another company, so keep an eye out as it's a good one.

Pinecone Research - this is apparently the holy grail of survey companies. They recruit via banner ads on websites but the ads are hard to find and are often on a site for a very short time only. I've never managed to find one (but then I've not really looked hard) but they are meant to have great rewards. Definitely one to sign up for.

Survey Companies I dumped as a waste of time in relation to the rewards:

Claritas, thesurveyplace.co.uk, canvasse opinion, Just the answer, htmail.com, pigsback, opinionworld, mediatransfer (not enough surveys) Acop (not enough surveys).

sleepless_saver

ali1972 wrote: »

Pinecone Research - this is apparently the holy grail of survey companies. They recruit via banner ads on websites but the ads are hard to find and are often on a site for a very short time only. I've never managed to find one (but then I've not really looked hard) but they are meant to have great rewards. Definitely one to sign up for.

I signed up to Pinecone, but would not say the rewards are great. I am asked to do about one survey a month, and get £4 lunch vouchers for each completed survey, so over a year it's less than £50 worth. They do send the vouchers very fast though:D.

ali1972

Thank you for that information, good to know. Mind you, £4 for each survey is pretty good. I find with the demographic I fit into, £50 a year from one company is probably the best I would get anyway. I'm sure that if I was shopping for a family I would do better with some of these companies...

wacko911

I've been with netratings for 4+ years now, and have got an ~£100 Xbox console, some ~£50 walkie talkies and a ~£30 perfume gift set off them.

One tip, just fill in you are living alone, otherwise it will pop up every time you use the internet asking 'Who is using the internet'.

thor

sleepless_saver wrote: »

I signed up to Pinecone, but would not say the rewards are great. I am asked to do about one survey a month, and get £4 lunch vouchers for each completed survey, so over a year it's less than £50 worth. They do send the vouchers very fast though:D.

If you have got a paypal account you can elect to have your reward credited to it instead of getting luncheon vouchers. This is far more useful if you are like me and rarely eat out.

Tombo

Yeah, I'm a member of all those panels and they seem OK to me.