Google Opinion Awards Brings You Rewards for Taking Short Mobile Surveys
I feel like there was a moment when I was in college and I got the impression that I was going to make tons of money filling out online surveys. All these sites promised to pay hundreds or thousands for my opinion, but in reality they only paid pennies. Even though I knew that I had completed a billion surveys in my life, I cannot recall a single time when I “cashed” a survey account, and even if I did, I am sure it was no less than for a few dollars. We got to know the Google Opinion Awards here at Lifehacker last week, and my poll fanatic got excited again. Except for this time, I am making money, which I will probably cash out.
The Android app (sorry, no iPhone option) is pretty basic. You sign up with a little demographic information and then Google sends you surveys that match your profile when available. Unlike all online surveys I’ve conducted in the past, these are usually just one or two questions that take literally a few seconds to complete.
Polls come in the form of push notifications that you can open whenever you want (some I answered right away and waited days for others). As you can imagine, by using it, you agree to a little privacy opt-out. It doesn’t really matter to me, but if you don’t want to be tracked and shared with personal data such as your age, then this is not for you.
I made $ 2.91 in the last week after completing eight surveys. Most of them I could do in just a few seconds. For two I was paid $ 1 each. The most expensive (or one dollar, as the case may be) were for questions about the hotels I have stayed in. If I had to guess, I spent 5-10 minutes on all eight surveys.
I’ve traveled a lot over the past few weeks and Google has noticed this. I was first asked to select places I had been to recently from a list of several options, and then asked why I went to that place. For example, in the case of hotels, he asked if I was overnight or if I was just stopping for a drink after work.
So yeah, Google knew where I was.
When I indicated that I had stayed at the places mentioned, one in a hotel in Chicago and the other in Denver, I was asked to write a review of my stay. There was no minimum or maximum amount required, and in both cases I wrote just a few sentences to make $ 1. From start to finish, I may have spent 2-3 minutes doing each one while in a taxi or other places where I might otherwise be mindlessly scrolling through Facebook.
It looks like most surveys are billed at $ 0.10 per person. Of course, this is not a ton, but it accumulates quickly.
All your money is accumulated in an account, which you can cash out to your Google Play account. This way, you won’t get rich if your version of Rich can’t buy all the apps you need. However, if you create a tiny nest egg, it could mean a free movie on your next flight, or make it easier to buy bonuses in a mobile game that you’ve become obsessed with. At my rate of $ 2.91 a week, I should have about $ 12 in a month.
It’s not a lot of money, of course, but it can be a great option for someone who spends money on Google Play from time to time without feeling guilty.