My Search Funds - Web Users Get Paid to Search

My Search Funds is a scheme whereby web users get paid for completing their normal search engine queries.

It works as follows:

• Sign up to My Search Funds (all you need is your name and PayPal email address).
• Install the My Search Funds search bar in your web browser (Firefox and IE are supported).
• Every time you want to search for something type the query into your My Search Funds search bar and use that.
• Receive a small payment, typically 3 or 4 pence, for each real search query you make.
  

Search queries are handled by Google. All you have to do is get into the habit of using the My Search Funds search bar every time you want to look something up.


Search Quality and Fraud Detection:
It's important to stress that My Search Funds is for genuine searches only. If you make excessive or repetitive searches just to increase your earnings then you'll probably be banned and receive nothing.

Their system flags up the following:

• Multiple searches in quick succession (could be a problem if you're spelling isn't too good).
• A large number of searches on any particular day (difficult to quantify but more than 30 searches a day is likely to attract closer scrutiny).
  
• Automated searches generated by some sort of software.
• Repeat searches with the same search term.
• Searches where the results are not acted upon (e.g. not clicked through to another site).

If you need to make lots of searches in quick succession I would recommend temporarily reverting to the normal Google search box.

User Comments:
I first heard about this over at WebTalk Forums. It sounded interesting so I checked it out further, which led me to the MoneySavingExpert.com forum where there are a couple of threads all about it. People are making the following general comments over there:

Scatty Student1: "I've had over £30 in two months and am due £35 next time, never had any problems with them, they are one of my favourite sites."

geordie joe: "I've just been paid."

Why oh why: "I have had a payment today for about £21.00 yippeeeeeeeee."

(Note: GBP £1 is equal to about USD $2)

Most people over there seem to be earning around £1 per day for 30 searches, although one person I noticed had made almost £3 from 96 searches in a single day.

It's only fair to tell you that a few people have complained that their earnings have been reduced, but it's hardly surprising that My Search Funds keep a close eye on the authenticity of the searches made. Overall it looks like the majority of users are happy with the system and have received payment.

Payment:
My Search Funds has a minimum payout of £20. Payment is made 45 days after the last day of the month in which you made at least £20. Sounds complicated but this payment system, known as NET-45, is very common for most online advertising and money making programs. If you don't make it to £20 in a month your balance is carried forward to the next month.

You're probably wondering how My Search Funds make money to pay out to their users. I had a think about this too and the only thing I can think of is that they're monitoring your search engine habits for research purposes. That's nothing to be concerned about because all you give them when you sign up is a name (even a first name would do) and your PayPal email address - you do give any other personal details at all.

Referrals:
Members of My Search Funds receive 10% of their referrals' (called friends) earnings with the program. Unlike most other programs they also have second (friends' friends) and third (friends' friends friends) referral tiers, which earn 5% and 2.5% respectively.

Conclusions:
I'm trying My Search Funds out at the moment and I'll report back on my progress in due time.

In the meantime if you'd like to try it yourself please sign up as our referral using the following link: Try My Search Funds Now

McAfee and Yahoo! Team Up

Internet search giant Yahoo! has recently teamed up with online security experts McAfee to bring a safer search experience to their users.

Users of Yahoo! will be alerted to any suspicious sites by a pop-up notification that appears in the search engine results. The system uses a condensed version of McAfee's SiteAdvisor technology.

"What we’re doing is bringing McAfee SiteAdvisor data around risks for sites on the Web and integrating it into... Yahoo Search," said Priyank Garg, director of product management for Yahoo Search.

The new partnership is expected to reinforce Yahoo!'s position as the number one search engine in the US.

Great Month for Advertising Revenue

People often ask me about the progress of some of the advertising programs I use. Two of my absolute favourites are Text Link Ads and WidgetBucks. I earn well from these two without really trying.

WidgetBucks went through a bit of a rough patch a few months ago and they got a lot of negative publicity as a result. Some people branded them as a con but others, like me, maintained faith and have reaped the rewards as a result. I can confirm that WidgetBucks is still paying well - currently about 20 cents per click for US/Canadian traffic. You can see my latest payment of just under $100 below. Those earnings were generated in March 2008, proving that WidgetBucks rebounded from their problems earlier in the year.

I don't do anything at all to promote Text Link Ads. I just made some blogs, generated some links and PR and then placed TLA code on the sites. Last month I made more than $60 with them (shown below) and this month, with the benefit of the recent PR update, I'm on track to make closer to $100 from TLA. Those earnings were generated by displaying TLA on only 3 blogs - if you had a network of good blogs imagine how much more you could make. It's easy to earn with TLA - just get some PR, keep your sites topped up with regular content and sit back and watch the money roll in.

If you'd like more information on either of these programs please read my reviews. If they're helpful then please sign up under me!

WidgetBucks Review
TLA Review

Good luck.

Oxado

As regular readers will know I'm always on the lookout for viable alternatives to AdSense for those who have had the misfortune of falling foul of Google's rules or have a site with prohibited content. One great alternative that I've come across is Oxado.

I have been using Oxado in various places for more than a year now and I have to say I am quite satisfied with their service.

What is Oxado:
Just like the other contextual ad networks Oxado serve ads based on your site content. This means your visitors see relevant content-related ad units and are more likely to explore them by clicking.

What types of site does Oxado accept:
Oxado accept pretty much any type of site. Unlike most other pay per clicks they will accept adult sites. When a publisher signs up to Oxado they have to generate new ad zones for each of their site(s). Oxado checks and approves all of these zones, generating a unique ad code for each one. Publishers can easily submit new ad zones for approval if they wish to use Oxado on additional sites.

How do Oxado publishers earn:
Oxado publishers receive a small payment, typically 5-50 Euro cents, each time a genuine visitor clicks an ad unit on their site. What makes Oxado slightly different from other pay per clicks is that publishers also receive commission if their referral subsequently goes on to make a purchase - a system called cost per action in the industry.

Which countries does Oxado cover:
Since its inception in 2005 Oxado has been adding new advertiser markets to its portfolio meaning that they now serve ads relevant to most countries around the world. This includes all of Europe, North America and Australia.

How does Oxado pay:
Responding to publisher feedback Oxado has also improved its payment options to include PayPal and Moneybookers in addition to the long running bank transfer system. Payment is made at the end of the month in which a publisher accumulates 100 Euros in their account. If they don't earn 100 Euros then their balance is rolled over to the next month.

Something else that Oxado do is send publishers a monthly itemised break down of ad zone earnings. Of course publishers can sign into their account and check their earnings at any time.

Is there a referral program:
Publishers earn 10% lifetime on the earnings of anyone else they refer to Oxado. This is very generous compared to most other PPC referral programs.

How to join Oxado:
If you've found this guide to Oxado useful then please consider trying it yourself. We'd appreciate you using our referral link: Try Oxado Now