The Truth About PTC Websites: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Written by Aldo Tate Wednesday, 18 May 2011 11:06

One of the leading internet marketing fads that presently pulls in many newbies is to begin with Pay-to-Click Sites (PTC). I, myself, started in that manner. Let me discuss what a Pay-to-Click website is for those who don't already know. A PTC site pays you a little cash for merely viewing a short advertisement, normally lasting around 30 seconds or so. Whenever you watch an ad, some money is deposited to your account; usually, this must collect to a predetermined total (usually around five bucks) before you are able to get it out of your account. There are various other facets to PTC web sites, such as referrals and special membership options.

One of the leading internet marketing fads that presently pulls in many newbies is to begin with Pay-to-Click Sites (PTC). I, myself, started in that manner. Let me discuss what a Pay-to-Click website is for those who don't already know. A PTC site pays you a little cash for merely viewing a short advertisement, normally lasting around 30 seconds or so. Whenever you watch an ad, some money is deposited to your account; usually, this must collect to a predetermined total (usually around five bucks) before you are able to get it out of your account. There are various other facets to PTC web sites, such as referrals and special membership options.

You may round up your own referrals, or you purchase them; either way you can expect to gain more or less half of whatever they make by viewing advertisements themselves. So, if whenever you watch an advertisement you get one penny, you'll get one half of a penny whenever one of those who signed up using your referral link does the same. It seems like kind of a slow way to go, but try to see what will happen if you have hundreds of people under you. There are also special membership options that let you get more referrals, more ads and more cash for each click (sometimes for both your own clicks and your referrals' clicks). Although you may generate a bit more money with one of the enhanced plans, they usually cost a a lot up front, so be cautious.

Now let's assume you join a Pay-to-Click and it has 4 advertisements. You then obtain 1,000 people to join under you. Every one of your own clicks makes you $0.01 and so does every one of your referrals' clicks. That's $40, if you and all your referrals click on all four adverts. Doesn't appear too shabby, eh? Forty dollars every day can be a lot.

But hold it! It turns out that almost all Pay-to-Click websites are frauds. PTCs are essentially pyramid schemes. Why "pyramid"? It's because if you aren't one of the first few people to get into the pyramid scheme, your chances of really generating any money at all are really low, approaching zero. For instance, if ten folks each put in $10, that's a total of a hundred bucks. The top guy may pay out fifteen bucks to four of his downline, leaving the rest of the folks out in the cold. The way Pay-to-Click programs accomplish this is by getting you to invest in membership and referrals (normally not even actual people but bots) and then they pay you out with money that others have put in membership and referrals. Since so many referrals may merely be bots, and thus non-paying, the cash from watching ads won't cover all the pay-outs. Eventually, people stop investing in the PTC site and the last individuals to invest lose out. If you're one of the first people, you may make some money but it's not worth the risk.

My recommendation is that you keep your distance from Pay-to-Click websites like the plague. You might generate a small amount money or not, depending on how high and close to the head schemer you are, but he's a defrauder and every one else who signed up under you is losing money. It's simply not a great thing.