Paid to Click (PTC) Sites – Why Are These Jobs Waste of Time?

In the following review which is based on my experience, I would like to focus on a topic that is a favorite one for many of us but also controversial – PTC (paid to click) websites and various PTR (paid to read) email systems. I have already touched on this subject in the article ad systems of Adfox, Adsense, and others. Before I start, I must ask that anyone who supports statements like: “It is for free, so why not try it?” or, “I am already getting the emails I read for free, so why not be paid for reading other emails? “, do not read any further.

My Experience with PTC Sites

When I became interested in employment via the Internet, like any other newbie I found paid to click sites. Many of my friends have recommended this way of easy cash for free. Intending to get something extra, I began to search. There were lots of websites and advertisements that contained the various links to sign up for different PTC systems.

Naturally, everyone said that it was ‘a safe deal and verified income over the Internet.’ In other words, that money is definitely paid out (this is mentioned in every ad), even though the PTC ad system was launched only recently, so no one had the chance to reach the minimum payout amount so quickly.

I admit that I was a bit skeptical, but the arguments of most of the clickworkers convinced me: “It is free, so why not to give it a try?” or “Every day you open dozens of emails for free, so why not to get paid for it?”

So I tried it myself; I registered with 15 PTC sites all at once. The more PTC programs the higher the income, right?

Almost every system offered X dollars for registration, an additional amount for each person introduced into the system and of course, some commissions for daily clicks of your friends. One would say: “Well, pretty good money, yes, if only the money got paid out immediately.” However, the issue with all the PTC systems is that you have to reach a certain threshold for a minimum payout amount. So although they reward you by crediting 10 USD for registering, it is worth pointing out though, that the actual payout is set at 100 USD and on average, you get 0,1 USD for clicking on ads that you receive.

On average, one advert is sent every other day, so with this frequency, it would take about two years before you reach the minimum payout amount of 100 USD.

What’s more interesting, is the fact that the closer you get to the threshold amount the fewer ads you receive and eventually, they simply stop sending you more paid emails/ads.

Therefore, you are never able to reach the minimum payout amount. Or even if  you can reach it, you are unlikely to ever see your money, and nobody will communicate with you anymore.

I experienced the same issue with all the PTC websites where I registered. Have a look at the brief example below, which illustrates how it works with eRmail and other similar systems.

How It Works: A Practical Example

eRmail.com provides each registered user a bonus of 10 USD for registration. The minimum payout amount was 100 USD. As of 31 August 2018, they claimed that they have 5,660,000 registered members. This means that they would have to pay at least 500,660,000 USD for the registration of all users.

Price list for advertisers was as follows:

• Sending out 100,000 email addresses: 500 USD.
• Sending out 200,000 email adresses: 1,000 USD.
• Sending out 300,000 email adresses: 1,500 USD.

It is quite a simple math, really. If you paid attention in class at your elementary school, you should be able to work it out. So, let’s break it down: To send out 300,000 emails can earn you 1,500 USD. Let’s assume that out of the 300,000 addressees, only 100,000 recipients have confirmed the email and let’s say the lowest possible price per click was 0.1 USD per email (given the rate range of 0,1 – 0,5 USD). So, with these numbers, we can calculate this formula:

100,000 read emails * 0,1 USD = 10,000 USD payout for registered users (clickworkers).

The result of the calculation for 300 000 emails:

• Revenue for the PTR portal: 1,500 $.
• Cost: 10,000 $
• Profit: – 8,500 USD (loss).

Next, let‘s try to imagine that out of the total number of 300,000 email addresses sent, a total of  250,000 users click on the email, and this time, let’s make the reward at least 0,30 USD.

Once again, the revenue is listed as 1,500 USD. So, with the calculated cost of 75,000 USD, the portal would be operating at a loss of 73,500 USD.

Can you see why the PTR site does not pay you immediately after clicking on the email/ad? Do you understand why the payment threshold is set so high? Where would they get the money to pay out when 100,000 users reach the minimum payout amount and they all want their 100 USD sent to their bank accounts? These are just the breakdowns for the pay per click activities, I have not even mentioned the entry bonus for registration and rewards for introducing new people into the system.

Does Anyone Actually Earn any Money?

I will not mention the names of other PTC websites that flood the Internet with these stupidities and offer unreal and fake earnings. Instead, let’s discuss why it does not work and will never work.

The position of the user (the one who registers to earn money by clicking on paid ads)

99% of users who sign up for these non-functioning systems are people who think that introducing hundreds of other people into the system, will earn them a lot of money. They, therefore, advertise and hire other people to do the same. This means that these PTC systems get inactive users who do not buy anything. They just want to click on paid ads (e-mails) and get paid for it.

The position of the company that supposedly sponsors the ads (the actual advertiser)

No regular company will ever pay for advertising in a system where people (who do not want to buy anything and actually have no interest in anything), are registered just to get the commission for the “mandatory” ad click.

Just ask yourself, would you pay for such advertising if you were a company? I most certainly would not, because logically, you get pretty much zero profit – on the contrary, you could be losing money as you have paid for advertising that generates no sales to you. Therefore, zero demand + zero offer = zero money.

The position of PTC / PTR site (the one which promises money for clicking and viewing ads, reading paid emails, etc.):

• artificially increases the number of members to attract advertisers (occasionally people get caught in the system, but there are so few that it will never be enough for payouts);
• displays the fake number of payouts to the users;
• artificially creates advertising emails;
• collects your data and then sends to you some uninteresting advertisements that you will not be paid for reading;
• in the worst-case scenario, after a while, the entire project and your data will be sold to someone else,
• pays nothing to anybody as there are no funds!

Who Ends Up Earning Money?

Only the PTC portal. It has your data, contacts, and from time to time there may be an advertiser who pays for an ad that nobody actually cares about, so there is little or no profit for them.

Nowadays, such portals appear everywhere almost daily. Why? Because the costs of creating such portal are relatively low ($30-$150). So, everyone can predict that once the portal for email distribution, clicking on ads, reading ad e-mails, etc. collects fees from the advertising companies, their initial investment will return almost immediately. Sadly, this cannot be stopped as these types of projects incorporate everything within the rules or general conditions, which 99% of people do not read at the time of registration.

Systems that do not work and are just a huge waste of your time:

• Paid to click (PTC) sites – are online websites that promise rewards for clicking on adverts. The rewards offered, are either payments or other kinds of benefits.
• Paid to read (PTR) email programs – reading advertising emails. In other words, you get paid to read advertising emails. You will receive an advertising email from the portal and are required to open this email. Once opened, you are required to click the link displayed – this will earn you a few pennies.
• Paid to surf (PTS) systems – you are required to install unknown software onto your computer, and once installed, your toolbar displays ads. To find out more about this subject, please read my article – how surfbars work.
• Paid to watch (PTW) video portals – the portal owner promises to pay users just for watching various advertising videos and online app testing.
• Prelaunch – I have a dedicated section covering this subject.
• Miscellaneous – other types of clicking and advert viewing programs or systems (e.g. link clicking, URL shortening, etc.). These offer various opportunities to earn money by viewing adverts.

Conclusion

Many of my friends and I are done with these “useful extra income” activities. We will not let ourselves be disappointed again. It is not the time that matters, because it only takes a few minutes a day, but it is slightly disappointing when you get to the minimum payout amount and after six months of your daily clicks and when you request a payout, no money is received, and no one communicates with you anymore.

I understand that most people have to go through this experience on their own, and only then they reach a point when they start to doubt these systems like I did.

One of the ways to earn some extra cash using the Internet is by completing questionnaires. Not only do you have the opportunity to express your opinion or views and contribute to knowledge about current social topics, but you also have the opportunity to earn exciting money. I have only positive experiences with this kind of job. If you would like to learn more, read about it in the section on online surveys.

However, I would not like to put all of the email systems, click on paid ad systems and similar ones in the same category – from time to time there are legitimate companies that appear, and these do not promise big rewards. The cost per click/read email should range from 0.001 to 0.01 USD. If a PTC portal promises higher rewards, it is probably a scam. If the system offers a registration bonus, sooner or later, they go into the red and are likely to go bankrupt. Personally, I do not deal with these kinds of systems anymore, and I would recommend the same thing for you, my readers, too.

Did you find what you were looking for in my review? If not, check out the discussion forum as you may find some interesting information on this subject.

Have you ever come in contact with  PTC sites or PTR systems? If so, I would like to hear from you, please share your own experiences in the discussion.

Did you find interesting information in this article that you consider to be useful? Then share it with your acquaintances and maybe you help someone. Just share the article or like it. I certainly recommend joining my Facebook group, where I keep posting news about remote work from home, doing business on the Internet and making money online. Click on “Like” and in notifications set “receive all posts.“ Or you prefer tweeting? Then follow my articles and offers on my Twitter account.

George H.

My name is George and I currently work from home as a freelancer for a PR agency selling advertising. I also freelance as an online marketer for an e-shop, and I am actively involved in creating this website. I am always looking for interesting opportunities on how to make money online. I share my findings with my readers on this website. I consider this to be my hobby. I hope, that you can find some legitimate work from home, or perhaps you might be able to earn a little extra money.