Ciao pays $1 a review, then 25c, and now only 4c a review??

Australia
January 12, 2009 5:42am CST
Yeah, the title pretty much explains it all and I'm angry. :( The $1 was a promotion, and so they changed it to 25c. After finding out hundreds of scam sites and this other comparedby site changed there rules so you can only write so many reviews and you don't get paid for rating anymore, I decided to give Ciao ago again, since I know it's not a scam and received payment before. So once I had exactly $6 in my account. I wrote a review and waited for the day to finish to see it update. I only had $6.04. Yeah I was angry, but I let it go, thought it just could have been a glitch. 2-4 weeks later, which is today I go on and still find $6.04. I thought that was the only time it was going to happen. Because friends added me for some reason I gained two cents, so that's $6.06. I write a review about mylot today. Very descriptive and informative, and OVER 150 words. Wait for the day to finish, go on my account now which is around 10:30PM in Australia and see it is now $6.10. That is only a 4 cent increase. I don't think I'm going to be writing any reviews for them anymore. Okay they got rid of the $1 a review promotion, but come on, you could have atleast left it at 25c, not 4c! Now I feel good that I got that out. Haas ciao only paid you 4c a review, and are you disgusted on there behavior, I know I am. I want your opinion on this matter! :-)
2 people like this
15 responses
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Jan 09
One of the top reasons Ciao did away with the $1.00 per review wasn't so much as only a promotional thing, but due to the fact that unfortunately there were many scammers and plagiarizers. Case in point, one member there that I constantly reported for plagiarizer abuse was recently banned...not ONE of his reviews did he write but I found the sources on other websites that he copy/pasted from--he even had the audacity to lift one of my friends reviews there and copied it word for word. Also, I can see their rationale....they were paying $1.00 per review whether it was a lengthy well written one, or a complete crap job of only a few sentences. So if anyone is to blame it's many of the members themselves that abused the privileged in writing for them either by plagiarizing or writing downright crappy short reviews. So unfortunately we have all suffered. I would like to think I was one of the better writers there and often got exceptional or very helpful ratings. I still participate there but not as much...found a few more outlets for writing.
1 person likes this
• United States
13 Jan 09
Yeah, ciao has changed their system, and now they pay by people rating your reviews, as said earlier. It is rough, and noone I know makes much money off of it since their are thousands of users, and a very limited number make it for the premium fund.
1 person likes this
@anonymili (3138)
13 Jan 09
You really haven't read the site terms and conditions have you? They don't pay 4c a review, you don't get paid anything for a review unless you get positive ratings on it. If you get 4 ratings you get 4c, if you get 10 ratings you get 10c. The $1 and then 25c were never a permanent incentive, they were just promotions to get the site up and running and new members on board. When a new business opens which has membership (like a gym for example) it offers incentives to people to join, such as reduced price membership for the first 3 or 6 months. Then, when they have achieved the minimum number of members they need they go back to the original price. I've got some reviews which have had 15 ratings and some that have had nearly 200 ratings, so you work it out if I'm disgusted or not at their behaviour - I've never had cause to complain about payments from the site...
@marina321 (4556)
12 Jan 09
I suppose you did not see the numerous previous discussions when Ciao changed their pay rates It has been like that for a while now, you earn for ratings on your reviews now... Also, the $1 fee was an 'introductory bonus' so no need to be disgusted! It was bound to go at some point...
• India
12 Jan 09
Yes Ciao has certainly reduced their payment rates big time now..Noe they only pay for the number of reads and ratings that your review gets so it can be pretty irritating to see your account go up by just 2-3 cents
• Indonesia
13 Jan 09
I've joined Ciao also, Is there any limit reading reviews ? Because I've once read a lot of(around 40) reviews, but I only get about 20 cent although I know My community point are increasing.and I will be blue soon.
• United States
13 Jan 09
Just one question have you read some of the reviews? I have I cant understand them and then there are the ones that just copy and paste someone elses review. I can see why they changed there policy. They are gonna go under paying all the scammers and the legit reviewer such as you and me are out getting nothing for our hard work. I would still take there 4cents as its 4 cents I didnt have before. I am glad they changed the policy as now it will weed out the scammers and only those that really want to write for them will be the only ones left.
1 person likes this
@youless (112112)
• Guangzhou, China
12 Jan 09
Actually I started to be active in Ciao since December. At that time it offered USD0.25 for per review. However, soon it changed the payment and there wouldn't be even one cent for a review. You can earn from one cent if others rate your review. This is why I am not active in Ciao now. And I look forward to getting my payment this month but I don't know when I can receive it. I hope they will be honest to pay for me. I love China
@iskayz (5420)
• Philippines
12 Jan 09
Hi there! Ciao has changed their earning rules November last year. From $1 to 25 cents and now none. You will only earn for every rating your review receives. According to them they had to make this changes to prevent plagiarism. A lot of members were making reviews that to the Ciao management were not useful. I am too a bit sad about it. To earn on the site it takes so much of my effort and time. I still stayed on the site but not as much as I did when they were paying. But still trying my best to earn though its more tiring now. Little by little the earnings will grow I know. Happy mylotting!
• United States
12 Jan 09
i am so glad i did not sign up with them. i was about to but then i found associated content who is a lot better.
@EliteUser (3964)
• Australia
12 Jan 09
Hey, I don't exactly know why you are angry lol. In a way it is good, since they are looking into the future so their site can remain sustainable and not go out of business. Would you rather just have the site dissappear when you are really close to payout and run off withy your money? I don't think so lol. Happy Lotting!
@Metalchick (1391)
12 Jan 09
I too am a little disappointed but not overly surprised. Being a resident in the UK I initially joined the UK version of the site which only pays a few pennies per review which is peanuts when compared to other sites like dooyoo and review stream. However it soon came to my knowledge that the US version of ciao actually paid quite highly....well at the time it did anyway. So I joined up to both but I have been expecting it to drop as when compared to the UK version it was paying out considerably more. In the past I have found that a review I posted on the US version would pay the equivalent of 60p whereas the UK site only paid 3p and that's if your lucky. In my opinion think it works on the community points...the more you have the more you will earn per review. The first few reviews I recieved a few pennies for but as my community points increased so did the amount I earned. Perhaps an idea for the future is to keep rating and commenting other users reviews this way you earn even more community points...thus helping you in future earn more....hopefully.
@chiaeugene (2225)
• China
12 Jan 09
i think you are mistaken about their payment system. you get no money from writing reviews if your reviews are not selected by them as the better reviews in each category. you will only earn from read/ratings given by other members who read/rate your reviews and you can get about1-3 cents for their visits and this is the only way to earn now from CIAO for members.
@maroseqf (3657)
• Philippines
12 Jan 09
Hi pweety_princess! What I know is that ciao does not have any rate for written reviews anymore since second week of December. We can only earn through the ratings and comments our written reviews receive and they also give incentive for those with exceptional reviews. Probably only a few people rated and/or gave comment to your reviews that is why you earned just 4 cents.
@BlueGoblin (1829)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I haven't been paid and its been like a month. My balance hasn't increased since cash out either. I guess they don't pay you until a set time. I don't even bother with Ciao anymore. I hope people rate my reviews but not worth time my time. Ciao is worthless.
• Japan
12 Jan 09
Is it really 4 cents per review? I believe you are mistaken. Currently, ciao pays you for every rating on your reviews. You get a small amount when someone rates your reviews as "helpful", "very helpful" or "exceptional". That small amount is about 1 cent to 3 cents. The big earning in ciao now is when you qualify for the "Premium Fund"!