No More ciao.com ... ?
By zed_k4
@zed_k4 (17589)
Singapore
June 17, 2009 6:29pm CST
I've not been active in ciao for a long time already, but I occasionally check what's going on in ciao.com a few times a month. And this was what I got when I logged in:
Integration of Ciao.com with Bing Shopping - Member News:
Dear Ciao member,
We are delighted to announce an exciting change. As part of the Microsoft family, Ciao US is being integrated into our new search engine, Bing. You'll soon find familiar Ciao merchants and product listings on Bing Shopping, and you'll be able to save even more money with the Bing cashback program.
To avoid redundancy in our offerings to members and customers, Ciao's shopping expert network will no longer be available on the old domain, Ciao.com, beginning July 1, 2009. After this date you will not be able to log in to the Ciao community, read or write product reviews, or have access to other community features.
What does this mean for you?
You can easily sign up for a Microsoft Live ID via http://home.live.com/ to join the Microsoft community. If you live in the U.S., having a Live ID also gives you access to our Bing cashback program with which you can earn cash rewards when you shop with a Bing cashback merchant. If you are based in Europe, our European Ciao shopping communities, including Ciao.co.uk will also welcome you to join us as a member.
As you will not be given access to your reviews on Ciao.com after July 1st, you will need to save your Ciao US reviews manually. You can do this by copying and pasting the text of your reviews into your word processor, and then saving them on your computer. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Concerning payments, we are suspending our reward system as of today. Your account will no longer accrue money for positive ratings, member referrals, or any other awards. The money currently in your account will not be affected by this change. We will be making a final payment request for all Ciao US members in good standing, including those who have been unable to access the site due to regional restrictions. You will not need to make a payment request yourself; we are doing this for you. You should receive your last payments between mid-July and mid-August 2009.
Thank you so much for all your great work and wonderful reviews as a member of Ciao US, and for helping other consumers to make the best buying decisions! We loved having you in our community, and we look forward to seeing you again as part of Bing Shopping. Until then, take care and keep writing!
We sincerely hope you will join Microsoft's Bing Shopping community and enjoy a new and innovative experience when shopping for products and services. We look forward to hearing your thoughts! If you have any questions, please contact us via info@ciao.com
Sincerely,
The Ciao Community Team
What does this means...? I think it means that there will be no more reviews paid for members. I feel bad for those whom have participated actively. But ciao.com will pay members' outstanding earnings in due time. Jeez, I've never really been active, but I must wonder how others that have dedicated their time to ciao.com feels.
So this Bing thing, is a new search engine from Microsoft, so in a way, it's buying ciao.com, to put it in simple words. So what do you think. Thanks for your comment and I'd especially like to know what ciao members think of this.
7 people like this
21 responses
@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
18 Jun 09
lol =D Finally the whole thing is resolved.. haha =D I'm so happy to hear that actually, because it means that all those spammers in ciao are gonna lose their 'jobs'.. lol =D
BUt i do pity those honest members though.. It means one revenue lost for them as well.. Though ciao is good money, but too many members are actually abusing it, and i do agree on the buyout of ciao, from microsoft.. IN a way, it's much fairer to most members, especially those in european countries.. As for asia members, all i can say is that, they have to find another site to replace it now ^_^
After all, i more or less had predicted ciao to fold sooner or later, because of their inconsistency in the reward system, thus i decide to give up when they started on earning thru rating.. haha =D
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
18 Jun 09
Your prediction is correct. Such accuracy there..ha..
You are right; we can see how a site life span may be by the way they reward members. In a way, it's kind of a relief like you have said. It means no more spammers for ciao. Same like you, but I gave up way before all the banning of certain countries started. I guess I got bored keeping on rating but writing less, ha..
Pity for honest reviewers though. But I'm sure they will find other means of earning through their writings. I think it's not necessary to save the reviews, it's all just a part of ciao memory.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
19 Jun 09
I think this bing thing is confusing all of us, LOL.. I don't know liao..
. But it is certainly something to take note of. I wonder what it's uses are.
You are right on that bro, there will always be spammers but for mylot, it's no to spam defense is very strong.
Alright, lemme think. If I can remember and correct, slicethepie is a music review site, right...? Or is it just a review site? Are you in it, how's it so far?
. But it is certainly something to take note of. I wonder what it's uses are.
You are right on that bro, there will always be spammers but for mylot, it's no to spam defense is very strong.
Alright, lemme think. If I can remember and correct, slicethepie is a music review site, right...? Or is it just a review site? Are you in it, how's it so far?1 person likes this
@suruchi86 (1873)
• India
18 Jun 09
Thank god, I'm not a member of ciao. However, I feel slightly sad as I was thinking of joining ciao for earning some money through paid reviews.
@nancyrowina (3850)
•
22 Jun 09
I only ever did the surveys for ciao I didn't really write product reviews but I got disheartened with it because they started paying so little, like about 20p. And it wasn't as if the surveys got any shorter either they were still long, and there are other sites that pay you more for the same thing. I don't know if the same thing has happened to the UK site but I assume so I'll have to check later.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
22 Jun 09
Hello there nancyrowina, thanks for replying to this discussion.
I think that the payout is kind of menial too.
But then I thought that the members there are loving the program structure and the payout used to be a buck for a review until there have been lots of changes since. I did not try out the survey part before. I think Ciao UK is still on.
Have a nice day mylotting.. 
@vipulchawla (2220)
• India
18 Jun 09
I am an Indian but somehow i was able to access this site regularly and had been active too. Have earned around 80$ from the site and was hoping to earn many more before i got this news. I still have some 13.5$ pending and i hope they pay me the balance in due time. I will surely miss earning at ciao now and would have to look for any other opportunities to work on. Have joined trekpay just now. Lets see if it works out. Let me know if u wud be interested in joining it too
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
19 Jun 09
That's not bad and I hope you have continuing success in neobux and other quest for online earnings. 
I hope the site does update members too on outstanding balances. If not, members have to wait for July or August to be paid. But I'm sure they will pay. Have a nice day, bro..
I hope the site does update members too on outstanding balances. If not, members have to wait for July or August to be paid. But I'm sure they will pay. Have a nice day, bro..
@aseretdd (13730)
• Philippines
18 Jun 09
Can't really say that i am affected or that i feel sorry for this turn of event in ciao... since i am from one of the countries who got banned a few months ago... i like ciao and i was able to earn a good amount but some good things never last and there is really nothing we can do... since it is a corporate decision...
But it is a good thing that they will still pay the amount due their members... proves that the admin is quite professional...
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
18 Jun 09
You are right, the site is professional to still wanting to pay outstanding balances of members' earnings. Generally, I find friends there very friendly and the time when I was active, it was cool.It was fun while it lasted like a friend had said in this discussion too.
I heard about the ban before for certain countries and felt bad as well. My personal thought at that time was that they should have banned individual users whom are abusing the system for instance.
Anyway, this the last of ciao that we can talk about. I do not miss it too, just wondering how active users must have felt. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, aseretdd.
@TrvlArrngr (4045)
• United States
18 Jun 09
I agree with you. They should have banned the people that were abusing the system and not whole countries. It is a shame they are gone. Let's hope that Bing starts something similar but that they check for plagarism before letting people post.
1 person likes this
@HelScream (2822)
• Philippines
18 Jun 09
I always predicted that this thing will happen sooner or later ever since last year this is the first site that ever paid me online but since I got my first payment I stop making reviews for them for the reason that my hard work for my reviews is not well compensated. It is too bad though for those who have been a member of ciao that long... This must be a big sit back for them...Well I hope that they will find other ways to devote there time with theres no point on crying over spilled milk as they say things change everything change there is no constant thing in this world except the word change thats what my mother always say..
Well there are still lots of earning opportunity out there waiting to be discovered who knows, greater opportunities await you along the way just got to search it somewhere.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
18 Jun 09
Quote:
as they say things change everything change there is no constant thing in this world except the word change thats what my mother always say..
That's so funny, bro!! 
..A good one. I laughed at that. You are right, there will always be great opportunities elsewhere for other online money making searchers. Like the saying, where there's a will, there's a way.
I suppose your judgment was right all along. It's good to follow instincts at times. Have a good day, take care.
That's so funny, bro!! ..A good one. I laughed at that. You are right, there will always be great opportunities elsewhere for other online money making searchers. Like the saying, where there's a will, there's a way.
I suppose your judgment was right all along. It's good to follow instincts at times. Have a good day, take care.
@HelScream (2822)
• Philippines
18 Jun 09
glad to make you laugh bro sometimes we also need to laugh at the reality of life and by the way forget to thank you thanks for the info here I havent got this message since its been a while since I last visit the site and I have way of knowing this aside from this topic you have started.....take care to bro see you around.
1 person likes this
@angel_of_charm (4134)
• Philippines
18 Jun 09
This has been an issue long time ago. When Asian members had been restricted from accessing the accounts. Somehow, ciao had been a very good program to each one of us, at the time that there is no issue with ciao it never fail to pay its members plus its been so easy to earn with this site.
Ciao is great and I don't blame the administration of why they have to do this to us as the fault is to be blame on many of us as well. Many abused the system, adding friends and exchanging ratings, this has been abused by many that caused admin to decide to restrict many of us.
Till the end ciao is still good to us. Giving us the last payments will be a good news to many. Being fair to all of us till the end is what makes them a wonderful administrator. Ciao is a big lost for many of us who dedicated our works fairly.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
19 Jun 09
I agree with you, angel. It is kind of a loss especially when they are prompt in their payments to members before right up till the present when they have to close down their review system. Ciao will be missed by many members whom have contributed greatly to the site...
@blackmantra_x (2732)
• Philippines
19 Jun 09
Good day... As they say good things don't last. Though I have earned a sum of 50 dollars or so in a month being a member. I did wrote at those times but when they started changing policies I lost interest and had never logged in since November of last year. Sorry to hear they're closing down, it was a good run for me. I hope there would be some website like ciao soon but then again as we are still in recession I highly doubt it and most sites that would pop up is more likely a scam or the likes. I agree there's nothing like home here in mylot.
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
19 Jun 09
I agree with you, good things sure do not last. But you did well by following your instincts there. They were pretty shaky at one point and those that guessed well followed their instincts well.
Hope this recession will be over soon. It is starting to be a bit of a worry for me too. Thanks for your input, my friend..
Hope this recession will be over soon. It is starting to be a bit of a worry for me too. Thanks for your input, my friend..
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
18 Jun 09
I think Ciao went bankrupt so I am glad that after noticing that they kept on changing their payment scheme, I stopped getting active because I knew all along that Ciao will soon close and all efforts might just go in vain.
@kang_artha (88)
• Indonesia
18 Jun 09
yeah....no more ciao.com, but dont worry there still ciao.co.uk we can still get money from there, the different is in ciao.co.uk the payment not using paypal, but we must have bank account
1 person likes this
@start20090509 (52)
• China
18 Jun 09
i just signed up for an account,but did not understand .seems to set up a position
there, for example,the first,0.03$ ,set up anti-cheat system,many pelple have been deleted,my friends had been removed as part of account
1 person likes this
@pinayindutchland (45)
• Netherlands
18 Jun 09
Hey I am also on Ciao and was saddened by that announcement. They are completely giving all rights to bing. We couldn't even save our reviews unless we copy paste each one of them. If you have hundreds of reviews it would be very annoying and time consuming to do all that and for what, post it again in another site. they didnt even tell us how to go about in the next ciao, where to log, what to do etc. Their announcement is quite vague and incomplete.
I live in Europe but I dont know what to do next. I like Ciao, I like reviewing products for them but the ciao.nl is difficult for me because I dont write good Dutch yet. So I like writing for ciao.com because its in English. I dont know if its gonna be available again since I am not a US resident.
I hope they will inform us more about it. And I havent reached my minimum payout this month so I dont know If i am still entitled for the payment. Terrible.
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
18 Jun 09
I'm sorry that you had to go through this. I know how you must have felt, seemingly that you have been active in there before. I don't know whether Ciao UK is still running and if still, whether you can participate there...? If possible, you can find out information for Ciao UK. I am not sure for members earning less than the minimum; will they pay or not.
You are right; the copy and paste thing is so not cool and I'm just leaving all my 40+ reviews there. I sort of donate it to the site..
Thanks for taking time to answer my discussion. You take care and hope that you will be able to get another great opportunity for earning in future.
You are right; the copy and paste thing is so not cool and I'm just leaving all my 40+ reviews there. I sort of donate it to the site..
Thanks for taking time to answer my discussion. You take care and hope that you will be able to get another great opportunity for earning in future.
@rsa101 (37966)
• Philippines
18 Jun 09
Wow there is now a change in ownership I guess. It started to be a promising site before but then I lose interest when all of a sudden they pushed many non US residents from joining in then a couple of months back they started inviting from coming back but I chose not too. I felt there was an instability somewhere in the site that discourage me from participating further. My suspicions did confirm now that they have partnered and changed once again their policies.
I think one sign that a site is going down is its frequent changing of policies and changing partners or owners. I guess I would not touch my account there for a while before I would again be fully confident of the new owners. If they will have to remove my account there then fine for me....
That is what I like in here the policies are simple and has made changes very little which tells me that this site is stable and is able to stand the test of time.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
18 Jun 09
Your judgment is sharp and true. Accurate, I'd say. I should have stopped even sooner than the previous year. But then again, I thought that the site was combined with Microsoft and it meant great opportunities or some sort.
I heard of the banning before too, and then the cut of upfront payments. I kind of suspect too that the site is perhaps facing some problems, and it closing down in a way is just a matter of time.
You are right, rsa, when a site has little changes on its policies, the site is doing momentously good. I wish bing the best, but like you, I'm just going to stand on the fence and watch.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
18 Jun 09
i don't know if i'm gonna bother with the bing thing.
i think they're doing an affiliate program,but unless i hear really good things,i'm probably just gonna write it off.it was good while it lasted.
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
17 Jun 09
I got this too, and had completely forgotten I was a member. But I live in Canada, so will it do me any good?
By the way zed, nice to see you friend. I've been hit and miss here a lot over the past little while..........so it's good to see you!
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
17 Jun 09
It's certainly great to hear from you, my friend.
I see that we have something in common there, LOL...I've sort of lost interest in ciao for quite a long while already, so was not that surprised to read that the site is being bought by bing. I've always suspected this to happen sooner or later..
I've been hibernating a few times here and there too. Must say it's great to catch up on friends back here.
I see that we have something in common there, LOL...I've sort of lost interest in ciao for quite a long while already, so was not that surprised to read that the site is being bought by bing. I've always suspected this to happen sooner or later..
I've been hibernating a few times here and there too. Must say it's great to catch up on friends back here.1 person likes this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
17 Jun 09
Aw zed, surely you know by now, there's no place like 'home/mylot'! LOL
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
18 Jun 09
Hi zed, I too got a mail stating more or less the same. they also mentioned that the revenue share will stop from July 1st . I got a payment last month without requesting which was really nice of them.I have a feeling that the site will merge with Bing shopping and something else may come out of it.I have not looked into bing yet. We may get to know some details through that..
However ciao.uk will continue as before...
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
19 Jun 09
Hi Kiran, thanks for responding. That's awesome that Ciao has paid you even without you requesting. They are really responsible in that sense..
So will you be joining Ciao UK...? Another member told me that they pay through a bank account. I wonder what Bing has in store too. Guess we will have to wait come July then..
That's awesome that Ciao has paid you even without you requesting. They are really responsible in that sense..
So will you be joining Ciao UK...? Another member told me that they pay through a bank account. I wonder what Bing has in store too. Guess we will have to wait come July then..@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
19 Jun 09
Hi zed, I have been a member of Ciao.uk , since almost a year now. I joined ciao.com later on. Ciao pays only through a UK bank account, but it is a great site. The same goes for dooyoo.uk, which is also a UK based site paying through UK bank account and Amazon vouchers..I too am waiting to see what will come out of Bing ..
1 person likes this
