Most survey sites are legitimate and driven to help you make money, but some other survey sites are merely a front for paid leads and other activities that are not related to survey activities. Do a little research and be very picky about the sites you register. Also be aware of the necessary measures you should take to help report fraudulent survey sites.
Choosing a legitimate survey site
A quick Google search is the first step in identifying which survey sites are legitimate. If they are a real survey site, people will talk about it and give decent reviews. You can usually find legitimate survey sites featured in blogs. There are also survey sites that help police the survey world through the rating and reviews. Be careful with some of the review sites out there because some of them do not base their reviews and rankings on actual reviews. They base their reviews on what company pays them the most to be the highest rated.
Some good review sites we suggest you review before signing up on a survey site are:
www.surveypolice.com
Survey Police has been providing a good listing of legitimate survey sites since 2005. It is one of the most respected and trusted survey review sites.
www.surveysatrap.com
Another survey site blog that you may find very helpful is SurveySatrap. The author of the site will tell you if you should join a survey site or if you should stay away from them. He warns against scams.
Submitting feedback for survey sites
When people have had bad and/or good experiences with companies, they will probably write about it. Their reviews will help decide if you want to join a site. You can also help others in their survey site search by submitting your own reviews.
Submitting reviews is generally a fast experience. You generally give some basic information about the quality of a survey site, how well they pay, and the general overview of the survey experience.
Typical types of questions you will be asked
- Overall experience with the survey company
- Incentives you are offered / paid per survey
- Estimated survey length in the email invites compared to the actual survey length
- Ability to send you surveys that you will qualify for (eligible to finish and complete)
- Frequency of survey invitations you receive
- Overall customer support provided for the survey company
- Recommended survey company for friends and family
- Uses your information for legitimate research purposes
- Survey invitations received in an average week
- The survey company do what they say they will do
Often on review sites they will allow you to make a comment about your experience. Make sure you write an objective list of the facts involved in your experience. Use the list above to help formulate your response.
If you do find that a company is fraudulent, you should submit a report to the Better Business Bureau and other ratings sites to help others know about your experience. If everyone posts about their experiences and shares information about these sites, everyone can help each other find legitimate survey sites and avoid scams.
