College students around the globe spend millions of hours each month with their noses glued to computer screens, sometimes doing homework, but more often than not just surfing the Internet. Now some are getting paid for it.
A group of computer-savvy businessmen saw the world of Internet users as a large pool of employees who could get paid for surfing the Web.
Today, millions of people, including a large portion of college students, are members of companies such as AllAdvantage.com. They receive a check each month simply for being online.
AllAdvantage.com and similar infomediary companies such as GetPaid4.com and ValuePay.com all function under the same premise. Advertisers pay to have their ads displayed, and Internet users get paid for viewing the ads when they join organizations like AllAdvantage.com.
Members are paid about 50 cents for every hour that a viewing bar appears on the monitor.
The real money rolls in when members build a list of referrals. Members receive payment for every hour somebody on their list of direct and extended referrals spends on the Internet.
Founded in February 1999 by four Stanford alumni, AllAdvanatage.com is a leader in its field. After one year in business, the company already has over five million members.
Widespread college membership is evident in cities with the highest membership rates, with Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech, ranking second on the list.
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A program known as FakeSurf is available online and allows an Internet user to fake Internet usage while away from the computer. This creates a fake profit for site members.
Efforts to curb this fraudulent behavior began last month when AllAdvantage.com released a new view bar on Feb. 5 with the capacity to detect fake surfing.
The company sent out e-mails to members who engaged in fake surfing earlier this month, terminating their accounts and preventing future membership for committing an act specifically prohibited in the membership contract.
First-year College student Dave Zawitz was one of the many who had his account closed a few weeks ago. Zawitz said despite losing his membership, he was actually pleased that AllAdvantage.com took steps to correct some of the problems with their system.
AllAdvantage.com "is a scam for advertisers, because AllAdvantage is not guaranteeing that people will actually see the advertiser's ads," Zawitz said.
Despite this apparent setback, many members are still in full swing, building up an elaborate list of referrals.
AllAdvantage.com has an anti-spam policy, meaning that current members are not allowed to recruit new members by sending out mass e-mails to people they might not even know.
That does not prevent members from gaining referrals through other venues. Charlottesville's own Gumby's pizza lists its AllAdvantage referral number on their pizza boxes.
Charlottesville's Gumby's pizza franchise had nothing to do with the corporate decision to advertise the company's referral number nationwide.
"It's a new subject for all of us," said Kenny Marsh, manager of Gumby's on the Corner. "I just got the information on Wednesday when we got in the shipment of new boxes."
Many new members of such Internet companies are at first wary about the authenticity of the service they provide. The phrase "too good to be true" comes to mind when considering getting a real check in the mail for surfing the Internet.
First-year College student Christie Harner decided to take the risk and signed up for AllAdvantage.com upon entering college in the fall.
"It's a way of getting money quickly and easily without really doing anything," Harner said.
Some, such as Zawitz, were disillusioned from the start.
AllAdvantage.com "doesn't really do anything," Zawitz said. "It's all completely for profit."
Harner takes a different stand on the matter, arguing that while AllAdvantage.com is a for-profit organization, those involved in the company know what they are getting into from the start.
"I think AllAdvantage realizes that people are not always reading the ads, but for the rare chance that someone does see an ad that interests them, it pays off," Harner said. "I think they knew what they were doing."
Despite SOFTBANK Capital Partners recent $70 million investment in AllAdvantage.com, in addition to $30 million in financing from other firms, some students, such as Zawitz, worry about the future of the company.
AllAdvantage.com "is a pyramid scheme because it's using advertisers to make money," Zawitz said. "If the advertisers stop coming, the whole thing falls through. If the company gets too big, everything falls apart"
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