StudioTraffic
From Make Money Online
(taken from Wikipedia.org)
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Studiotraffic
StudioTraffic (http://www.StudioTraffic.com) is a get-paid autosurf site which was launched in late 2003. It pays its users to watch advertisements every day. For each day that users watch the required number of advertisements, they get paid 1% of their account level. If they have a $100 account level, they get paid $1 each day they watch the advertisementas. All users start out with a free $10 account level, and they can purchase upgrades to increase their account level up to a maximum of $80,000. The rules now state that you can have only one account. With that it is possible to earn up to $24,000 a month! Join StudioTraffic FREE Now (http://www.studiotraffic.com/index.php?refid=35278&username=srdotcom)
Future
Even though clearly a lot of people have been paid by the program for over 2 years, there is still debate about the legitimacy of the company. For example, the Studiopay entity of the program (the one that processes the payments) does show up in formal business records as a real incorporated company. However, it seems Studiotraffic itself is incorporated in Panama, according to their site, for tax reasons.
There have been also accusations about its being a ponzi-scheme. Practically this would mean Studiotraffic does not gain much revenue from its other programs and advertising, but the payments would come from new investors (or in other words, 'upgraders'). There is no certain data about this as it is impossible to know how many people for example buy advertising credits or banner ads from Studiotraffic. Studiotraffic has refuted this accusation, and points out that they do not have to rely on upgrade fees to pay their members because they use the proceeds from their other online businesses to supplement their payout fund. They have their own web radio station, an on-line shop, and a web hosting business to name but a few, and there are more revenue-generating programs in the pipeline. Studiotraffic U.S. does not seem to be able to pay off the monthly withdrawels, and John has stated that if and when the U.S. becomes too much he will have to close off the U.S. section of Studiotraffic. What does this say about his dedication to the U.S.? He also stated that he does not need the U.S. anymore because he is now opening business in China. Already in this month they have blocked surfing for "in-profit" members. Didn't we invest in the hope that one day we could be in profit and reap the money? People seem to not realize that we come into this program to max out our accounts and then reap the profit, but what good does it do us if we put in 10,000 dollars and when we make that 10,000 back, gain a profit of 2,000, and then all of a sudden we're blocked becuase it's too much to pay us? Then we we complain, they state "Well. you're in profit so we have no obligation to you." It doesn't dawn on them that your putting 10,000 dollars allows John to tell his business clients that he had someone just upgrade 10,000 dollars and so they buy a 5,000 dollar adspace. It seems they only like you when you put money in, but when you withdraw you run the risk of getting blocked; complain and you're banned becuase they don't like negativity affecting their business.
They do now claim to be ridding their circulating advertising of the usual plethora of extortations to join other get-rich-quick schemes, or sinking your money into questionable HYIPs and the like. If this is carried out successfully, then their credentials as a bona-fide advertising medium will be enhanced.
Just recently, there seems to be a move towards a Kennedy-esque era of 'ask not what your country can do for you, etc', with people being barred from surfing until they agree to 'work' for Studiotraffic, which is fair enough for the 'high-rollers' making hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars a month, but for those that wanted a quiet life, i.e. watch a few ads scroll past and get paid, it could look like the beginning of the end, no matter how ST dresses it up, they are evolving as a corporation into a scheme that is truly a cooperative money earner and not so much a pay-4-surf.
They have also introduced an intitative for those in profit to donate additional earnings into a fund called the Global Advertising Campaign (GAC), essentially asking such said members to contribute to the future while helping to ensure the longevity of Studiotraffic. While other HYIP and pay-for-surf sites have simple ambitions, it seems John Horan and his Studio Programs wishes to rise from the streets, to blast away from the hustle, and to build a legacy for himself and his company. Only time will tell if members simply looking to make a quick buck will buy into his pleas for globalization and longevity.
GAC basically states that a percentage of the money you earn has to be returned to help studiotraffic. Instead of advertising at .8% per day, they advertise 1% and then get you when you withdraw your money. All of a sudden you need to pay 2% to GAC and 7% to Studiopay, the mandatory method of payment, and what are you left with if you have a higher acct level?
Forums
It is significant that the program has a forum at all. Many other programs online would not do it, as a lot of them are organised scams which would run off after a certain period of time and would not allow its members to, for example, post their outrage on the forums when they have not been paid. On the Studiotraffic forum, the administrator of the program (John Horan) does post a lot, often every day. To date, out of the tens of thousands of forum posts, there seem to be little if none at all posts by people not being paid, and hundreds of posts by people who have been paid.
Customer Support
In this area, it seems Studiotraffic is a bit above the average get-paid site online. They offer live chat help and also a ticket system where the user submits a ticket and it is answered by an administrator usually within 48 hours. There are also reports on the forums that in certain troublesome cases, the Studiopay staff has phoned a client to make sure the client's payout indeed arrives at his/her bank account. The site is also available in 4 different languages, though they still seems to be "work in progress" in some cases. The FAQ is available in many languages and sometimes there are competitions in this regard too. Anyone who translates the FAQ from English to their native language will be paid suitably.
Money related issues
Unlike ponzi schemes, it clearly appears that one does not need to put any of his or her own money into the system in order to earn money, and indeed Studiotraffic start you off with a 'free' $10 upgrade with a one year life. It would take a long time to withdraw cash out of the system if you never upgraded with your own money but it is possible. To achieve this, heavy use of the monthly compounding facility, or the recycling of earnings at month end is needed since your account level must be at least $100 in order to withdraw, and you can only upgrade in multiples of $10. By this token, it will be the end of the fourth month before you have enough to raise your account level to $20 (having only been earning at the rate of 10 cents per day), and thereby starting earning 20 cents per day.
On top of that, you must have accumulated at least $5 in your account balance. After that, you can withdraw the funds. Judging by the forums, though, many people have much higher account levels than just $100, with one poll on the forum signalling that many people are actually earning hundreds of dollars a month. The money you put in cannot be withdrawn.
Also you must use their program, Studiopay, to withdraw. Unlike Paypal which has no fees, Studiopay requires a fee to withdraw Studiotraffic money into it and requires a fee to withdraw money out of it.
Finally, Studiotraffic appears to be one of the few paid-to-surf schemes with a long and proven track record of payment. It does not seem like a program suited for those who are no longer willing to contribute more than a few minutes to flip through web pages, or for those with a weak stomach or lack of patience. To those people, John Horan has been quoted as saying "It is time for them to move on." With all disclaimers and troubles aside, this company has weathered many storms and may possibly be the only web surfing company with a "like ponzi" organisation that has a chance to make it into the next decade.
As with all financial risks, past performance is no guarantee of future security, and any potential 'investor' would be well advised to part only with money that they are prepared to lose. Only time will tell.
