Autosurfs are traffic exchanges A traffic exchange is a type of website which provides a service for webmasters in exchange for traffic. It is similar to the autosurf concept with the exception that traffic exchanges usually use a manual rotation that automatically rotate advertised websites A website [citation needed] is a collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL), often consisting of only the domain name, or the IP address, and the root path ('/') in an Internet Protocol-based network. A web site is hosted on at least one web server, in one's web browser A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily navigate their browsers to. Therefore, they are capable of bringing a large amount of traffic to the advertised websites. Members earn credits for each site that they view, which can then be spent to advertise members' sites by adding them to the autosurf rotation. Sites may additionally be added by external advertisers who pay the autosurf operators.
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Concept
Autosurfing is a unique form of advertising: normally, advertisers pay intermediaries to display advertising to their target audience, and the advertising is presented to the audience in places where they are likely to see it, such as in public places, or packaged with entertainment. In this sense, no money changes hands between the audience and the advertiser.
In comparison, autosurfers are paid to view pure advertising (that is, advertisers' websites) for a certain amount of time (usually, less than 30 seconds). Interested viewers can pause the surf timer or open any site in a new window, giving themselves more time to peruse an ad. If the viewer is not interested and does nothing, the surf timer will restart after the specified period of time and a new site will be loaded into the browser. The surf rotation requires no feedbacks of any kind; in contrast to manual surfs, paid to read email or paid to click sites.
Autosurfing allows members to promote websites of their own choice, according to a system of credits earned by surfing. Members usually earn credits in a fixed ratio In mathematics, a ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind , usually expressed as "a to b" or a:b, sometimes expressed arithmetically as a dimensionless quotient of the two, which explicitly indicates how many times the first number contains the second to the number of sites they view. Member-promoted websites may or may not be their own websites. If not, they are most often the members' referral Multi-level marketing , (also called network marketing, direct selling, referral marketing, and pyramid selling) is a term that describes a marketing structure used by some companies as part of their overall marketing strategy. The structure is designed to create a marketing and sales force by compensating promoters of company products not only page at another autosurf or an online money-making program. This is because many autosurfs are structured as pyramid schemes A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than from any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud: members may earn a commission for each site that their referrals view, and are therefore encouraged to build a downline Multi-level marketing , (also called network marketing, direct selling, and referral marketing, ) is a term that describes a marketing structure used by some companies as part of their overall marketing strategy. The structure is designed to create a marketing and sales force by compensating promoters of company products not only for sales they.
As autosurfs are run from websites, online payment processors A payment processor is a company appointed by a merchant to handle credit card transactions for merchant banks. They are usually broken down into two types: front-end and back-end are used for members to upgrade and withdraw their profits. The most popular form of e-currency used is e-gold e-gold is a digital gold currency operated by Gold & Silver Reserve Inc. under e-gold Ltd., and allowed the instant transfer of gold ownership between users until 2009 when transfers were suspended due to legal issues. e-gold Ltd. is incorporated in Nevis, Lesser Antilles but the operations were conducted from Florida or e-bullion e-Bullion was a digital gold currency founded by Jim Fayed, a resident of Moorpark, California, USA. The company was incorporated in December, 2000, and launched on July 4, 2001. As of 4 August 2008)[update] Jim Fayed was in United States Federal custody facing felony charges of conducting unlicensed money transactions via e-Bullion and the murder. StormPay was a very popular payment processor until February 2006 but has now converted to an auction site.
"Investment" Autosurfs
A large number of autosurfs are investment Investment is the commitment of money or capital to purchase financial instruments or other assets in order to gain profitable returns in the form of interest, income, or appreciation of the value of the instrument. It is related to saving or deferring consumption. Investment is involved in many areas of the economy, such as business management autosurfs: to earn money surfing, members must pay a fee and are then promised a certain return on their fee. The "investment" is claimed to be a membership or upgraded membership fee and the "return", a per-site commission.
In the case of investment autosurfs, members either pay a fee to join and/or to upgrade their account level. This fee can usually vary from a few cents to thousands of dollars, and the minimum and maximum is set by the site operator. The program then offers a commission based on the member's account level for viewing a minimum number of sites, for example, for a period of X days, every day that the member views Y sites, Z% of the upgrade fee will be credited and can be withdrawn from the site. The product of Z% and X is always over 100% to ensure that the member makes a profit. Members also have even more incentive to build a downline because further commissions are received based on the amount of money that referred members put in or earn.
The investment autosurf concept is against PayPal PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. PayPal serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders's Acceptable Use Policy[1]. Historically, Paypal has blocked most autosurf programs' accounts.
Controversy
A large amount of controversy is concentrated over whether autosurfs are inherently structured as Ponzi schemes A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either. Traffic-only autosurfs that involve no monetary transactions can also be Ponzis if more credits are earned than page views available; older members are promised a certain number of website hits which can only be fulfilled by newer members joining. Due to the precedent set by 12 Daily, there is a strong possibility that most investment autosurfs are Ponzi schemes A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either, and thus breaking the law and/or deceiving their users; whereas paid to surf Pay to surf or Paid-to-click is a business model that became popular in the late 1990s, prior to the dot-com crash. Essentially, a company places advertising on members' screens and pays them from advertising earnings sites usually had a viable business model where advertisers pay for the site to be viewed but not earn money in return.
On the other hand, autosurfs which require an investment and promise to pay a profit must, to not be a Ponzi, have other sources of income which can yield the high percentages they offer. Therefore, they often come under attack for failing to reveal their income sources or not registering with the proper authorities as a legitimate investment company. Ponzi schemes will end when no new investors are found, and it follows that autosurf sites have rather short life spans, existing from one week to a few years depending on the popularity and "investment plans" offered.
12DailyPro
12DailyPro was one of the largest autosurfs in 2005. Promising a return of 12% daily for 12 days, funds invested went into the millions. In February 2006, autosurfs reached the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language national news when funds of members of 12DailyPro were frozen by payment processor StormPay [2].
Rather than focus entirely on StormPay, news organizations such as ABC4 (Utah) and WTOC (Georgia) investigated the autosurf itself. In a statement released by the Georgia Government Consumer Protection Agency titled "Pyramid Schemes Never Die; Just Evolve", 12DailyPro was closely scrutinized. Media calls to 12DailyPro owner Charis Johnson went unanswered.
Later in February, 12DailyPro received a cease and desist order by the SEC, who claimed that 95% of the program's funds came from new members. On February 28, the SEC filed a proposed stipulation, agreed to by the attorney for Charis Johnson, LifeClicks, and 12DailyPro that these parties would turn over all assets and records to a permanent legal receiver. [3]
2006-Present
After the demise of 12DailyPro, many other autosurfs collapsed as well; this is widely assumed to be because they invested member funds into 12DailyPro, causing a domino effect The domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence. The term is best known as a mechanical effect, and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events where the time. Subsequently, autosurfs have become less popular and are more widely believed to be Ponzi schemes. However, many still autosurf, either refusing to accept that they are Ponzi structured, or knowingly using this to profit (through attracting new investors to prolong the life of the program). Also, some autosurfs have begun to focus on the advertising side of their business model, by, for example, converting to manual surf or by paying members bonuses that are not dependent upon the advertising fee. They have introduced disclaimers on their sites saying that purchases are solely for advertising, earnings are payments for viewing advertising and that there is no guarantee of earnings. However, disclaimers do not override the law and thus do not legalize Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one example is the consumption of illegal drugs an otherwise fraudulent program.
Money invested in 12DailyPro is currently being held by a court-ordered payment receiver [4].
External links
- Pyramid Schemes Never Die; Just Evolve Statement from the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs
- ABC4 News in Utah Investigative video into 12DailyPro
- Current news from Thomas F. Lennon, a United States District Court The 94 United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has-appointed Receiver Several regulatory entities have been granted power by the Congress to place banking and financial institutions into receivership like the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for failing nationally-chartered commercial banks; the Office of Thrift Supervision for failing savings and loan associations ; and the Federal Housing Finance Agency ( for 12DailyPro
- http://www.10news.com/news/13422465/detail.html
- http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/autosurf.htm
Categories: Advertising Categories: Marketing | Communication design | Promotion and marketing communications | Service industries | Media by type | Traffic exchanges Categories: Websites | Internet advertising and promotion
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