SAD NEWS — ClixSense PTC is permanently closing on Monday, July 17th, 2017. ClixSense made the announcement about a week ago in their login message. The company plans to continue its surveys, tasks, and offers business.
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Here is how they describe the imminent closure…
Members, more than 10 years ago we came online strictly as a PTC. As all things go, the ClixSense business model has changed over the years and with the addition of Crowdflower tasks, offers and surveys our core business has shifted. No longer are we just a PTC, but instead ClixSense has grown to be one of the top performing survey networks in the world.
While our survey, task and offer business has grown significantly, the PTC side of our business has been on a downward slide for some time now and more so since the loss of Paypal back in February.
Being in the PTC industry has it’s positives and negatives. The positive side of things is that we can provide you with an easy way to earn a little money and for advertisers we can send a large amount of traffic to their websites for a very reasonable price. The negative side of things is a bit more extreme. This caused us to lose our Paypal account (or so they claim), it places us into a high risk category any time we apply for a merchant account or new payment processor. It gives companies a negative feeling about us because this industry is loaded with fraud. What I mean by that is companies who we’ve approached to partner with us refuse to do so because of our affiliation with PTC. And lastly, from a revenue standpoint, it’s not profitable at all.
From this announcement we learn that ClixSense will still be in operation, but no longer with a PTC (Paid-To-Click) option and no ClixGrid (which is closely related to the PTC business.) ClixSense will continue to offer earning opportunities with surveys, tasks, and offers.
No more PTC at ClixSense!
THE MODEL OF A WELL-RUN PTC
What else can we learn from this announcement? ClixSense has been in the PTC business for a decade. It pays well in comparison to other PTCs in the industry, and has built an actual business with execs, offices, and employees, so it’s reasonable to view ClixSense as the model of a well-run PTC.
Given all this, it was surprising to read that “…it’s not profitable at all.” Possibly the multi-level payment structure gave away too much?
HATERS, CHEATERS, AND WHINERS
It also seems likely the haters, cheaters, and whiners may have consumed too much time and attention, eating into profits. It’s a shame the way these bad apples have smeared the reputation of the entire PTC industry. ClixSense wants to grow, and they can’t do so when whiners are causing them to lose favor with merchant account providers, payment processors (PayPal being among the most important), and other business opportunities like Crowdflower.
- It’s hard to make a profit in Paid-To-Click.
- The PTC industry has a BAD reputation.
- There are more respectable ways to make money online.
WHAT IS YOUR CLIXSENSE STRATEGY NOW?
How do you plan to respond to this PTC closure? Have you used ClixSense to make money with surveys, tasks, and offers? Has the ClixSense Daily Checklist Bonus been part of your strategy? Will you be getting money back from current advertising or an upgrade? What do you think will become of ClixSense? Post your thoughts in comments below.
I am still mulling over these questions myself and not sure whether I will be continuing to work with ClixSense. My current upgrade expires next month, and I currently have an existing balance of only $7.50. So I will need to stick with ClixSense a while longer to earn enough for my next (last?) cashout.
For the past 3 1/2 years I have been focused on earning only with Paid-To-Click. The demise of the best player in the business is disheartening. Other than a few trials here and there, I have never participated in earning from surveys, tasks, and offers.
For those of you who do surveys, tasks, and offers, can you give us some pointers on how to make the most of these alternative ways to earn online? Does it flood your email? What’s the upside, and downside? Do you do all the surveys, tasks, and offers, or do you pick and choose? How do you decide which ones are worth participating in?
Tags: affiliate marketing, ClixSense, offers, Paid-To-Click, PTC, surveys, tasks
Tame Bear,
Adscend media has videos and slide shows that I was doing to help complete the daily checklist bonus and I have started to do more of those.
I rarely find a survey that I qualify for and then they seem to never end.
I try to hit $1.00 at least every day but it may be unattainable without the ads.
I guess I’ll have to wait and see how much I can earn without the PTC ads and decide then.
Ken Damon
Thanks for that tip, Ken. I’ll look up Ascend Media.
I have been a member of ClixSense since 2012. I never spent much time trying to get referrals. I only have one active. That referral has earned $32.22 for me so far.
My total earnings at this point are $1305.39 of which $188.05 is from PTC and $3.75 is from the ClixGrid. The balance of earnings comes from tasks and surveys. I earn most by doing surveys. It takes a while to figure out which ones are worth trying and which will just waste your time.
Samplicio surveys work best for me with OpinionWorld and Peanut surveys next. A lot depends on demographics. I’m a 72-year-old white male and often get disqualified on that alone. But through trial and error I’ve learned what to avoid completely.
My current balance stands at $230.15.
ClixSense has always paid me, so I intend to stick with them. The loss of PTC earnings will only hurt a little, and it is now much easier to qualify for the 5% daily bonus for completing tasks since PTCs and ClixGrid are no longer required.
Since PayPal is the only online processor I use, I will be paid by check in the future. It’s not quite as convenient but definitely acceptable.
Sounds like utilizing more of what ClixSense offers has worked out well for you. That’s eye-opening: only 14% of your earnings came from PTC; the rest was mostly from surveys!
Tame Bear,
Iv been with clixsense since 2008 i think….
Most of my earnings come from surveys, a few offers and tasks. In that order.
I do have referals on 7 lvls….but like most members…inactive.
I get 1-4 surveys a day…and make around 2-4$ from them…it may not be much….but for me is enough.