Bad News For Ciao Writers/Reviewers
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
December 6, 2008 2:31am CST
When I first joined up with Ciao they were paying $1.00 per review....doesn't sound like much but I was cranking them out like crazy and had earned quite a nice income during the month of October and paid in November. Then they dropped the bomb, that reviews were no longer to be paid $1.00 but a mere $0.25¢ Okay still better than nothing right...well now here is the official announcement that is up at their Member Center
Copied there new announcement
[i]New Incentive System on Ciao!
We’ve been slowly changing over to a new, better money-earning system on Ciao, and we’re almost done! We have now completely replaced the earning-per-review plan, and we have launched our Premium Fund as well as increased the payout for our Current Issue section. It now includes a $10 first place and $5 second place prize. We will be introducing more incentives later, and we will keep you up-to-date with these changes.
Although the $0.25 per review incentive is gone, we think you’ll be very happy to learn about one of the new features, our Premium Fund. We’ll be distributing $2,000 USD to the writers of the best reviews on Ciao each month – about 800 reviews will be considered. Only opinions written in the previous month will be eligible. The first batch of reviews to be considered will be from this past November. The five best reviews will receive $20 each, and a diamond symbol will appear next to the review title.
We hope you enjoy our new system, and we hope to see more of your reviews in our community!
[/i]
Nuts big time...so now we're not going to be paid at all for reviews we write and have to hope and pray we are in the top group of reviewers who will get paid via their Premium Fund. While I'm not going to leave there completely I just don't know about writing as much. I've already hooked up with Today.com where one writes a blog and gets paid, and recently joined SharedReviews.com, and now trying my luck with ReviewStream. Might also have to go back to cranking out more articles for Associated Content.
Are you a Ciao writer/reviewer? What do you think about this latest bombshell? Quite frankly I'm pissed off and disappointed....I really counted on that extra money for writing reviews
16 people like this
45 responses
@dreamweaverjan (3471)
• United States
6 Dec 08
Yeah Pye I'm with you on that one! I was so dis-heartened when it went from $1.00- .25 cents per review and honestly haven't done much of late; Been too busy
getting my other stuff written like you on today.com which I really like and been
testing the waters over on Review stream I have a few of them up too and I need to
do more on Associated content and anywhere else I can earn some extra cash per month;
now I have a huge vet bill staring at me, (sigh)!!
I just cannot ever get caught up!! I didn't get enough posted to even get paid
on here for DEC, but come JAN, it will be another nice size like I had in NOV.
CRAZY!!! its just CRAZY!!!
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
Nope I think it's only the "VIP" blog...that is one's first blog there that gets the $1.00 per entry in a blog...the rest you might get paid for page views but not the $1.00..of course could be wrong...I'm confused..LOL
How does one get a banner thingie at Today.com????
Anywho...I've gone back to writing articles at Associated Content again...one has to wait for them to approve the article but they do pay a bit higher per article..used to pay more, about $8 when I started, now it's about $4...sheesh everyone is cutting their pay rate.
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I have a ReviewStream link on my profile page. You don't need a link to write reviews and there is no "sign up" process, per se. The links just give those of us who have referred someone the opportunity to get credit for that referral. But, it's totally up to you.
I am also on Today.com. It says $1/post/blog/day, so I'm taking that to mean if you have more than one blog on their site, you'll get paid for EACH blog you post to at the rate of $1/day. If anyone thinks I'm misinterpreting that, please let me know.
1 person likes this
@KrazyKlingon (5005)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I have not joined ciao or any others, but I have joined Associated Content a long while back. I have not been active there at all though. I am thinking maybe get everyone you know who is a member of that site & is against the changes, get them all together & give them a nice backlash against those changes.
4 people like this
@KrazyKlingon (5005)
• United States
8 Dec 08
Well, seeing so many that have responded in this discussion, you do have a nice bunch of people that can start up that campaign in sending them the message that what they are doing is no good. If they're all on your friends list, start sending messages? If you have their email addresses as well, time for a mass email maybe.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
Looks like I'll have to start cranking out the articles again for AC..I had stopped when I joined Ciao cause it really was a bit of a goldmine for me, and seemed to be less effort to write reviews than articles.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
Oh believe me we've all been writing to Ciao about our "displeasure" over the changes...Still haven't heard back but then they must be swamped with emails
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I was really disappointed..I had found a literal goldmine with them but then I had written over 100 reviews there
@babyfuzz (1078)
• Philippines
6 Dec 08
Hi, pyewacket! Yup, I heard about the bomb! I've noticed it first that I didn't earn from my new review and thought it was just a glitch. It was just an hour ago that I received messages from my inbox in Ciao and confirmed here in mylot too!
Well, anyway, as for you I'm sure you won't have a problem earning. I'm one of your fans! I bet you will be one of the Premium Fund member who can earn as much as $20!
What about the Today.com? I have heard about some pay per post sites and those associated content sites. I also write for Reviewstream but still way too far from $50 minimum payout. I only have 2 dollars in my RS account.
I also heard about Smorty, SponsoredReview, and Blogsvertise. I submitted my blog there and hoping I would pass.
I still wanna write for Ciao, if and only if my friends (like you) will still be there reading and commenting my reviews. Otherwise, if you will all visit my weblog, then there's no need for me to go there. My weblog doesn't get the visitors as much as my Ciao profile. Who would visit my weblog anyway if they won't get anything. At least in Ciao just by rating, you earn friends and your deed will be reciprocated.
I earn a few bucks from Ciao and at first I thought it was really too good to be true. I knew one mylotter who earned as much as $200 in 2 months! Well, I won't name names but I don't think that person deserve that money for writing such nonsense reviews.. or would that be ever called a review?
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I only just started Today.com...it's a blogging thing and technically one gets paid $1.00 per blog entry a day but they too have to review your entries to see if they are valid ones and not just garbage.....LOL. I do have one friend here who has been writing there awhile and she says it's legit as she has gotten paid.
As for Ciao....???? I've gone back to writing articles at Associated Content again...you have to wait there as well to find out if one's articles are accepted or rejected but I've done fairly well by them..I might hang out at Ciao, but I'm not sure I'm going to spend as much time their now...really disappointed as I really did get paid well for the month of October (paid in November)
1 person likes this
@babyfuzz (1078)
• Philippines
7 Dec 08
I think Reviewstream is a legitimate site. It's just kinda frustrating to write sometimes since you have to wait for 3 days to have your reviews approved only to find out that it's rejected for some odd reason, but at the same time it is also challenging. It's like a valued price for me having my article published.
I write for RS (reviewstream) if I have something more to say about a certain product that I haven't blogged about.
I haven't searched about Today.com yet. I hope Ms. Pyewacket will help us out regarding that. ^^v
2 people like this
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
7 Dec 08
What do you think of Review Stream? I looked over Today.com also and I'm undecided whether to consider either one unless I have proof from people who write for them that they are legitimate and have a proven track record of payments lol. I love Mylot, so far this is the only one where I don't feel someone is about to drop something on my head and split it open.
3 people like this
@LouiseKnittel (4764)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I find it surprising that that they feel if they alter the payout ( to the point that we do not get paid ) that we would be excited about it.. the only ones that will benefit is them. It is just wrong. The money there is not big money, but it was a little better then some other sites are paying... Well was.. I never did make Payout.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
Mmm..how can one report them to the BBB though? It's a German-based website. If it wasn't and instead US then they be asking to fill out a 1099 form. I'm really disappointed cause I did earn good money there for the month of October and am expecting a nice sum for November's work..I BETTER not be cheated out of it as that was to be my Christmas money
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
7 Dec 08
I am irritated because there is some glitch now with the settings and I have to enter my paypal info before I can request payment, however I cannot get INTO the settings in order to enter my paypal info!! GRRR. I sent an email to the site but who knows if they will help me or not.
3 people like this
@LouiseKnittel (4764)
• United States
7 Dec 08
So sad that they are doing this to good honest people. If they don't pay then they should be reported to the Better Business Bureau.
2 people like this
@karthickvr (165)
• India
6 Dec 08
Oh! I'm really disappointed with this ciao website. I'm a new member to the ciao.com. When I joined that site the payment was only $0.25 and I was happy with it. But, now I'm really disappointed. If I'm disappointed this much, then the old members would have been frustrated with this announcement.
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I guess I can be frustrated as I consider myself an "old" member when they were still paying $1.00 per review, but still stuck it out when they paid only 25¢..now I'm not so sure
1 person likes this
@tammytwo (4298)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I just joined Ciao as well and have reached payout two times already. Of course I have requested payout just in case the site goes down. I don't like the idea of not being paid at all. It seems there are already plenty of sites doing that. I would like to at least be paid 10 cents per review. I understand that some of the reviews are written well but they could place requirements on them, such as using complete sentences and correct grammar.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
They should have had a sliding scale of how they paid..a few cents for reviews only a few sentences long and more for more detailed reviews...I wrote very long reviews for them...
1 person likes this
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
6 Dec 08
I am not a member of this site
but I've read they were paying $ 1 some time ago and now a lot lesser
I am not into writing reviews so I never join even if some people recommend me to
well hope you find another site to earn more pye
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I was never into writing reviews either, but managed to do so at Ciao...mostly reviews of movies I had seen so it was easy to do
@Aurone (4755)
• United States
30 Dec 08
I still write for epinions mainly because they give a Christmas bonus every year and sometimes they do a ten for ten thing. Write ten very helpful reviews and you automatically get $10, not a lot of money but I have been writing there a while so I continue to do so occasionally.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
7 Jan 09
I'm over at epinions too..but can't figure them out...I haven't made a cent there yet....what's your "handle" there...as you can guess I'm pyewackete
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
28 Dec 08
LOL--I don't understand Epinions either...I joined them awhile ago and I have NO earnings with them so far--
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45688)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
6 Dec 08
I'm not a member of any of those other sites, but I think the only ones who would "enjoy [their] new system" is the site owner(s) themselves. Oh, I'm sure there are a few who write reviews because they just have to get their opinions out there, but I'm guessing the majority of their members do it for the money.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I actually did like writing my reviews there..that's why I haven't been as active here..but yes, a lot had to do with the money aspect...I did very well there as long as they were paying the way they were..now I'm back to writing articles for Associated Content.
1 person likes this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I had joined but lost interest after a bit. Too much work for so little money, I though. All I had to do was work another 1/2 per week at work to earn much more. I am glad I do not belong any longer.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I actually had made good money there while they were paying their regular rates...that's why I'm so disappointed now
1 person likes this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
9 Dec 08
I am sure that is very disappointing. It seems to be going the way of the rest of the economy.
2 people like this
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I read it this morning. What crap that is. Here's what I think, they got their website on the map and hit their spending quota. I'm sure that happened quickly. And many of the reviews are way less than helpful as we all know. I figured this was coming. I'm with you, gonna try with review stream and maybe shared reviews too.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I just tried my luck with ReviewStream as well..thing I hate is the wait for knowing if one's articles are accepted...but maybe a better system..there was a lot of drek over at Ciao with people writing crap ..LOL.
1 person likes this
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
8 Dec 08
UmHmmm. Anyway, I knew it was too good to be true for long so I'm NOT shocked. I seriously doubt I'll do anything there now. 
1 person likes this
@losouler (113)
• Hungary
6 Dec 08
Uhhh.. I am disappointed too.. at first I could not believe it.. I thought you misunderstood something.. but then I looked at it on ciao and saw.. Well, I understand them, there were som many people there writing 10 not quality reviews a day. I would desreased the 0.25 but wouldnt erase it fully. It is very sad because I my writing skill is not so good to win these kind of extra payments.. I really dont know what to do next.. could you give me some advice about other review writer sites you haerd of? I would be interested If I could join from Hungary as well and can earn via paypal. Thank you.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Dec 08
Actually they should have had a better method of paying in the first place..instead of paying everyone equally should have paid according to length of the review....I mean why pay someone the same rate as someone who writes only a few sentences versus someone who did a real detailed review? There is ReviewStream but they work entirely differently. I only wrote a review only the other night..it takes them up to 72 hours to accept it or reject it...so waiting to hear from them
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
7 Dec 08
This does not come as a great surprise...
If someone like you comes around and produce 5 reviews a day to earn $5 ...
That's $150 per month.
Knowing that the internet has million of people on it...
It is not far fetched to think that 1000 people like you could find Ciao in a couple of months and start earning $150 per month.
Which means that Ciao's payout would be $150.000 per month!
Where is that money going to come from?
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Dec 08
They should have had a better system to begin with...like a sliding scale according to content, that is length of the review...back when they were paying $1.00 per review they were doing so whether the person wrote a few sentenced (and often crappy review) or long winded ones, uh, like mine..LOL My reviews were often several paragraphs each.
@sheenshaukat (2617)
• Pakistan
11 Jan 09
What is Ciao? How could we join it? I want to learn about it all. Would you or some one guide me about that?
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
12 Jan 09
To be honest, it's just not worth joining anymore since people don't get paid like they used to...in fact one doesn't earn money at all for reviews they write unless they are lucky enough to get exceptional rated reviews, in which at the end of the month they pick at random the best reviews and one gets paid a small, small amount....
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
6 Dec 08
First of all, I only JUST found you over there! Second of all, I only found it myself at the end of November. Looks like I quickly went from being screwed to being screwed twice? Someone had posted about it here so I went over to read about how content is written and paid. Second of all, I don't understand how they have the nerve to say it's 'new, better money earning system'. How is this new and better? It isn't, it's going to cause a lot of people to stop writing about anything over there. I dislike things that depend on the good graces of other people because it's obvious even in a place like this people will abuse the rating system because they don't like what you have to say. Another problem I've discovered at Ciao is that the number of people who see and rate your reviews is directly proportionate to how long you have been there (exposure), how many reviews you have written, sometimes how many friends you have, and how interested other people happen to be in the topics you are familiar enough with to write about.
I am not 'very happy' to hear about the premium fund because again, it's not like you can go and try to enter all of your own reviews for that. Then it's luck or chance whether you win by being nominated or not.
Might you tell me a little bit about the other sites you write for? If I can find something with a guaranteed 'payment per entry' type of site, I might be interested in checking it out. Even a quarter per works for me, as long as you don't have to be very active. Splitting time amongst several sites means less time for each one, so I want the time invested to be worth it. I am at SharedReviews too but haven't logged in for a long time. I'll send you a pm here.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Dec 08
The only other place that is a guaranteed paid place is Associated Content..that is if they accept your article/review. I PM'd you back with the info about this.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Dec 08
PS--You're so right--what do they mean by new, better money earning system???
@kenchiprincess (5296)
• Philippines
7 Dec 08
i feel bad too. i am a new member of ciao and i was able to get 0.25 per review for two days but after that i wonder why my earnings didn't go up on the 3rd day and that was the reason that the paying scheme changed. i was so disappointed about it. hope my reviews will be selected and one of the top reviews until then.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Dec 08
What's your user name over there..I'll take a peek at your reviews...mine is the same as here so not hard to find me there..LOL
@kenchiprincess (5296)
• Philippines
9 Dec 08
same as the name that i have here. please check on my reviews.
1 person likes this
@JOIEMARVIC (2335)
• Philippines
7 Jan 09
I really felt bad and got disappointed from ciao for decreasing the amount of pay per review written,but they didi not actually removed their paymnet scheme.You are paid 2-3 cents per review of a product that has never been reviewed before.1 cent for every read and 1 cent for every ordinary review.Still it sulks right,but i still do reviews there.Last month i got a 2 dollar share from their 2000$ Premium review fund.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
8 Jan 09
Still it sucks since before they drastically changed their rate of pay I was making a nice bundle there...LOL
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
7 Dec 08
I've never written for Ciao but I think that the best way to express your displeasure is to stop writing for them. If enough people stop writing, perhaps they'll change their policy. Have you tried EHow or Demand Studios? You won't get rich writing for them but perhaps that's another avenue of income. Not for everyone. Good luck
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Dec 08
I've heard of eHow...thing is that's a place that pays according to page views right? Nah...did that with Helium...in the year I've been there only made about $3.00...I need something a lot better paying than that type of thing.
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
9 Dec 08
It is difficult to understand how Ehow pays out. I know that it does pay according to page views but I've written 31 articles and somehow made over $28 on one of the articles that I wrote and got a payout of almost $60 last month. Wish that I could be more specific but their explanations of how monies are paid out are IMHO pretty vague.
1 person likes this
