Wow! I have to say you're willing to put a lot more into doing a search than I am.

To be honest, I don't really like doing searches much. Most of the PPC search engines are fairly useless.

And I don't like it when PTR programs make rules that say you HAVE to search if you click a paid link in an ad for a search engine. I prefer to make my own decision about whether I CHOOSE to support an advertiser or not.

I've never really understood how a PTR could make a rule essentially saying "You are being paid to do a search. If you don't do the search, you'll be deleted" when the search engines' rules essentially say "You can't pay people to search."

How does that work?

But when I CHOOSE to support a search engine advertiser, I pretty much go on the idea that they get one chance. If my search returns no results, or links to search at ANOTHER search engine, then I feel no obligation to do another search or click the link to go to another search engine. I find it especially irritating if I click one of the search term links provided on the page, rather than typing in my own, and still get no results.

That's just silly.

And I give them either the time on the timer or 1 minute (whichever is longer) to load the resulting webpage. I'm not going to sit there all day waiting for the page to load. Especially not for 1/4 cent.

I generally have the same rules for other kinds of advertisers. I don't see why searches should be considered special.

Oh, and my vote is:

1) Get rid of the rules requiring people to search. Search engine owners may consider advertising on a site that REQUIRES members to search if they receive payment for visiting the search portal to be incentivized searching, and delete those advertisers' accounts.

2) Add a TOS to your site. People should at least have the right to know the rules before they join.

3) Raise the minimum payment to $1 and pay within 7 days.

Cheers,

Wil

Dear,

First of all, I'll change the timer soon (will be a new poll).

1) I don't have any rules about requiring people to search. LOL I never said that!

2) There is a TOS at my site, it's that it doesn't have a link in the main page. I'll put one soon. The link is: http://www.emailswithlove.com/terms.php.

I saw great terms update at Sterling Rewards. I want to add something like that. Details here: http://www.getpaidforum.com/forums/index.p...136841&hl=terms

Do you think is ok to copy (partialy) that new changes? Cauz I want my great members to be HAPPY

3) With a minimum of $1, who do you think it will join? There is no problem with the low minimum for me. And, it's better for the members this way too .

Thanks for your interest.

Good idea. I think using polls is a good way of getting an idea of what other people think. You might also want to ask your advertisers what they think about the timers. Personally, as an advertiser, I think its my job to grab the person's attention. I don't worry about timers too much.

Ooops! Sorry! I must've misread the rules.

See, I interpreted that email as saying "Hey, there are too many people clicking on the links in search ad emails without doing a search. We don't like that, so here are the rules for searches:

1. If you live in a country that isn't allowed to search (because the search feeds won't pay for traffic from those countries), then don't click the links. We only want people to click the links if they do a search. That's what you're being paid to do. Yes that's against the search engines' rules, but that's what our advertisers are paying for. If you think you can get paid without doing valid searches, you're wrong. We'll delete your account if we catch you, because that's cheating. Of course, paying people to search is cheating too...but that's different.

2. Don't use proxies to try to hide the fact that you're not in a search-approved country. We only want to pay people for doing valid searches. You can't do a valid search if you use a proxy. And if you can't do a valid search, we don't want to pay you for reading the ad and clicking the link.

3. If you click a paid link, do a valid search.

Number 3 is my favorite. Your version is a lot nicer and friendlier than mine. Seems more like a bit of friendly advice than a rule.

If the search affiliate offers that kind of advice, it can get them deleted.

Aha! Thanks for the link! I shouldn't have assumed there wasn't one just because there was no link from the main page or inside the member area.

What's that old saying? "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?" I think Program Owners should be looking at each other's Terms, and if they see something different that they like, why not add it into their own? As long as it hasn't been patented or something.

I liked the part about not deleting people for complaining. I think programs that do that are horrible. People should have a right to complain if they want to. Of course, complaining isn't the same as abusing the Program Owner, either publically or privately. That kind of thing shouldn't be tolerated.

I also liked the part about not deleting people if they didn't do searches. But it seems silly to put something like that in the TOS. Nobody should ever be deleted for not doing searches. They aren't being paid to search, they're being paid to read the email and view the website until the timer expires. Searching is a choice. If they live in a country that isn't on the search-approved list, then the ads should be targetted in a way that the people from those countries don't get the ads.

I'd still join if the minimum was $1. That's pretty low. But as long as it isn't a problem for you, then that's great. I was just thinking of future growth -- 10,000 members requesting payment every 24 hours could become a bit of a hassle.

Cheers,

Wil

Well, it's not like that. If you live in a country which is eligible to make searches, then it's your choice if you want to make a search or not. We'll pay you anyway. We DON'T delete members for not searching.

#3 It's not a rule, as you say. And YES, it's an advice for those who want to support our advertisers.

I'll also add a link of TOS in the main page.

If my site will ever have 10,000 members which will request payment everyday, I'll pay someone only to do this (pay members) all day long. But at this point, with about 850 active members, only 15-20 request payment everyday. And it does not take more than 1 hour to pay all of them.

That's all. I wanted to ask you an opinion about searches, but I'll wait to see what you'll say about this.

It usually is. I'm trying to get my posts shorter, but so far I'm not doing so good.

I'm sorry if I'm coming across that way. I'm not trying to be mean. I just really don't like programs that try to make (or even strongly encourage) their members to do searches. My belief is that searches are no different from any other ad, and they shouldn't have special rules.

I'm glad to hear you don't delete members for not searching. I think that's A Good Thing. The choice to support the advertiser should always be left to the member.

But the statement that you've quoted wasn't about members in countries that are eligible to make searches. It was about members who live in those countries that are not eligible to search.

For one thing, unless the search engine is blocking those country's IPs or something, EVERYBODY is eligible to search. The issue is that the search engine affiliates don't get PAID for searches from those countries. That should be the search engine affiliate's problem, not the PTR members.

Again, why are search advertisers given special treatment? If I'm selling widgets, and I only ship them within Mongolia, then I should only advertise to people in Mongolia. Is there any PTR that will include a note to their members to say that only members in Mongolia can click on my link? I doubt it. A few may offer me the chance to target my ad to Mongolian members. But not many, from what I've heard.

If members aren't being paid to search, then why are members from "ineligible countries" being threatened with deletion if they click on the link?

I'm not trying to pick on EmailsWithLove -- I know lots of other PTRs do the same thing. I think they're wrong too.

SWEET!

Sounds like you've got a plan to handle possible future growth. If your ad prices will allow you to hire somebody to spend all day paying members. it shouldn't be a problem.

Cool. Always happy to share my opinions and ideas.

Cheers,

Wil