WOW-- Fifteen Cents a Day!!
Written: Jul 15 '02 (Updated Jul 16 '02)
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When I first started visiting "pay-to" sites on the internet, I thought I had discovered a goldmine. Frequently I would look into my mailbox to find checks anywhere from $10 to over $100. Those days are no more. My clicking for pay has been dramatically reduced. Besides Netflip.com, Searchcactus is the only other site that I do on a consistent basis. However, recent developments at Searchcactus have made earning a very slow and sometimes difficult process.
The site recently announced that the usual 25 cents that could be earned daily would be reduced to 15 cents, earned by making 15 unique searches (worth one point each) once within a 48-hour period. This means that now a member can only earn approximately $4.50 per month. That is, if there are fifteen searches available daily AND if the member performs those searches faithfully each day. At this rate, the $20 needed to cash-out for a payment will take over four months.
Although Searchcactus calls itself a search engine, it does not seriously function as one. This is little more than a gimmick upon which to base the site. This somewhat explains the fact that paying search topics are becoming very scarce there. Paying search results are purchased by various merchants who advertise on the site. Lately, the number of merchant users has dwindled drastically. More often than not, only nine or ten searches a day yield any results. With the 48-hour time limit, paying search results are even more difficult to find. The only sure money to be made there is the $2 incentive to sign up and the 25% referral bonus for the first year a member recruits another user.
There is also the confusion that arises when related search words are entered into the system. These related search words are recognized as duplicate searches and credit is not awarded. More wasted time!
One upside to the 48-hour rule is that a member is supposed to be able to repeat some of the same words every two days. Theoretically, if a member has a good list of thirty-five or more good search words, the 15-search limit should be easy to reach daily. Actually, however, the site has become somewhat unpredictable in that some words that should credit after the 48-hour period do not. Being a persistent Searchcactus member, I often go to some other internet sites where users pool their daily lists of credited words. These sites, such as mycoupons.com, are invaluable to make maximum use of Searchcactus without wasting time.
This site is rapidly becoming a "sign-up" site, with more incentives for sampling various Quick Cash sign-ups and Bonus offers than for making the few cents per day from searches. Using these offers can net quite a bit of credit in a short time, yet the credit is sometimes slow in coming, if at all. Those credits that are awarded can take up to six weeks to appear in the user's account. Another downside to these offers is the mountains of unwanted email they seem to generate.
Searchcactus also allows up to four members of a household to have an account at the same time, as long as each person has a different email address. This would be very profitable if the site were not so temperamental. Presently, just keeping up with my one account is frustrating to no end.
The main thing this site has in its favor is that it does pay reliably, which is saying a lot since many "pay-to" sites arrive suddenly, make a lot of promises for great earnings and then (after the user has invested much time and effort) depart, often without any notice.
Although Searchcactus is still one of the most reliable search-for-pay sites, changes have made earning cash a very slow process. For this reason, I have decided to take the $12.48 cents I have in my account and purchase one of the Searchcactus.com tee shirts, which sell for $12.00 each (postage and handling included). Mousepads and caps with the site logo are also available. Maybe actually seeing something tangible will give me the incentive I need to keep going with this program.
Online pay sites seem to be a dying breed, so taking into account that there is not much else available, I reluctantly recommend Searchcactus.com for those who want to earn money online.
Recommended:
Yes
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tbrown
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Location: USA
Reviews written: 252
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