mValue - You Surf, They Pay

TYPE OF PROGRAM

This is another "pay bar" program, but with a couple of twists. mValue pays you for the time you spend surfing the net, but you also earn points that are redeemable for deals, prizes, and other stuff. You earn the points whenever you are online, even if you are working in an application other than your web browser. The software from mValue also acts as a cookie blocker, so you can decide what sites get your personal information (which they will sell to advertisers).

The mValue Panel is fairly standard pay bar fare - minimize and close buttons, rotating ads targeted based on your browsing habits, and a link to their web site. It also gives you a search field and a "Refer a Friend" button, and your accumulated points (not cash) are displayed.

mValue also indicates you will receive special offers for information. Apparently, you can get cash for providing personal information to specific companies. I would imagine this is in the form of a demographic survey.

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PAYMENT

You get paid $0.50 for every hour of active web surfing. This program limits you to ten paid hours per month, rather low for these types of programs. Once your accumulated earnings are more than $20, you can elect to have a check mailed to you or to have the money automatically deposited into your checking account. Payments are made at the end of the month following the month where you exceeded $20 in earnings.

This is an active user program, meaning you only earn as much as you put into it. If all of your downline surfs 10 hours in a given month, but you surf only 5, you will only get paid for 5 hours worth of time for your referrals.

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REFERRALS

The number of referrals you have is unlimited. This program allows for direct referrals and four levels of indirect referrals. You get paid $0.10 per hour of active surfing for your direct referrals, and $0.05 per hour for indirect referrals.

The mValue web site provides some decent resources for attracting referrals, and enforces an anti-spamming policy.

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COMPANY

This is a relatively new company, even for the paybar sector. It was started in 1999 by two Harvard Business School graduates, Jay Haynes and Aaron Pempel. They received their initial funding from SunAmerica and are currently working on a second round of funding.

The company is based in Culver City, California (Los Angeles). They have received attention for the privacy aspect of their business and for a $1 million contest that ended in January, 2000.

This company seems to be off to a decent start and plans to have over 250,000 members early this year.

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PAY STRUCTURE	What, when and how you are paid.	7
REFERRALS	How many allowed, how you get credit (paid), and what support is provided to obtain referrals.	8
WEB SITE	How well is the site designed, ease of use, and account availability.	8
TECHNOLOGY	If special software is required, how well is it designed and how reliable is it.	9
COMPANY	Reputation, backing, and experience.	7
POLICIES	Privacy, anti-spamming, and member agreement.	9
RELIABILITY	Likelihood to pay, to remain in business, and to provide support to members.	8
BIAS	My personal overall impression.	9
	TOTAL SCORE =	63
	FINAL RATING =	8