[Miho]

Since I have no job I've been surfing the net looking for jobs and whilst looking for jobs... anything, I stumbled upon this story:
College Drop-Out Shares The Secrets To Make Over $10,000/mo

and I'm just curious...
How does something like this even work? Anyone know? I mean... what exactly do you do if you sign up for something like this? They say something about posting links but what does this mean? I a teeny bit interested in this but then again things like this generally tend to not work out, but even though I won't do (most likely) I still wanna know exactly what people do for this.
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I can't remember....oh *le sigh*

[Maeniel]

Miho...I almost thought you were a spam bot when I first saw the title of the thread. XD

As for the story, it seems pretty cool and legitimate. I doubt Google wants people to spam forums like this one--though I'm not entirely sure how else they'd have you post links, unless it's your own website. And nobody will visit your website if you have too many ads. I guess the best way to do it would be to sign up and try it yourself.
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Keeper of Zaebos' and Jormand's powers.

[Miho]

but HOW do people make money from stuff like this?

I don't understand it.

Not one bit.
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I can't remember....oh *le sigh*

[Tinalles]

Easy!

1. Buy a whole bunch of ads advertising an easy way to make scads of money without actually doing anything significant.
   
2. Promise to tell The Secret to any chump who sends in a check for X dollars.
   
3. Profit!
   

^_^
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Keeper of The Remnant Minuon (cognomen Lucy, the Eaten One) and the Emissary Caeli

[Death Note]

You could try explaning it beter.


(the #2)
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The Sea Of Darkness Ageist The Fading Light.

[Nem]

If you send me £5 I'll explain step 2 to you better.
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa

[Tenshi]

As for a more detailed explanation for those that don't live on the internet (though I echo Tin-man and Nem's sentiment), it's a scam. Allow me to elaborate!

The company you're ACTUALLY talking about is "Google Money Tree", and is in fact not affiliated with Google (as in Google.com) in any way. The way Google Money Tree works, if you read the REALLY FINE PRINT, is that they'll automatically sign you up for their monthly service once you send them the LOW, LOW SPECIAL PRICE(!!!) of only $1.99-$3.99 (depending on site). Now, that monthly service? It's fee is around $80 for each month.

Not sounding like such a great buy? Well, it's not. The "secrets" they supposedly send (assuming they even send them, as many people have never received anything) is a CD about how to sell items on eBay. That's it, that's the big reveal. Your shiny new CD coaster costs you that $80 (at least), because even people who have canceled within the first seven days have been charged the monthly fee. Even more worrisome is that the number to Google, Inc (Google.com) is sometimes provided as the contact information, making the scamming company impossible to locate.

Quick question, is the fine print in a difficult to read font, really tiny at the bottom of the page? Do they avoid using the $ sign, and instead spell it out "dollars" or even (as I saw) "bucks"? Not to mention the two guys who got sued by the Texas Attorney General for running this scam...

While I won't tell you outright what to do, I would urge STRONG caution with this company. In anything involving money, I suggest sticking to the most important rule of business or finance: If it sounds to good to be true, it is.

(By the way, those $10,000+ checks you see images of are culled from people showing legit checks from Google's AdSense program, Wiki link Here, and have absolutely nothing to do with the Google Money Tree deal.)

Edit: And because it really is impossible to resist the urge:
For a low, low price of $1 I'll tell you everything you REALLY need to know about making a TON of money online! MONEY MONEY MONEY! PAY for COLLEGE! WORK from HOME! Earn Umpteen billion dollars a year PART TIME! etc etc!
Upon agreement of this contract, user will be enrolled in several shady programs where we use your credit card information to sign you up for third party companies, totaling about 100 dollars each month. If you're smart enough to read this fine print, then this web site may not be for you. This company is not affiliated with Google, Earthsong, or sanity in any way. Company used loosely, since it's really run by two guys in Utah.
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. Dubbed "Usagi" by AsA .
Keeper of the Siderean Swords

"If by chance some day you're not feeling well, and you should remember some silly thing I've said or done, and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled."
Red Skelton

[Squeeself]

In general, schemes of these nature are either flat up scams (you pay for nothing) or ponzai schemes (that is, the first few people that start the scam make all the money and the rest that pay for supposed secrets/investments don't). The rest give you overpriced advice for common sense or worthless information.

Remember, if they promise to help you get rich quick (heck, even slowly!) then they're really promising to bleed you dry. The motto of "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" should be your byword on the net. ANY doubts about a person, deal, or website should turn you away immediately. Better safe than sorry.

If you're in the US or Canada, ALWAYS check in with the Better Business Bureau before spending any money or sending ANY information out online to an unknown company http://www.bbb.org/

In this particular case, simply lop off the end of the URL and go straight to the .com of the site. Notice anything? The fact that this is NOT a legitimate news source (their only news is that one article) should be your SECOND clue, the first clue being that lots of money was made with little work.

Your third clue? All the comments at the end talking about how it worked for them! Squee personally started laughing here here: "Comments Closed Due To Spam (back soon) "

Ya, Squee totally believes this website is trustworthy now! But wait, it gets BETTER. Squee rofled here. They TELL you it's a scam in the fine print! "*INCOME CLAIM WARNING: Testimonials do not result typical result. Some individuals purchasing the program may make little or NO MONEY AT ALL. These claims are not a guarantee of your income, nor are they typical of average participants."

Yep, that's right, someone's trying to cover their legal bases?


So to answer your question Miho, it doesn't work, and no one makes money from it except the original scammer.


That SAID, Google has a huge problem with people making all kinds of phony advertising sites. They're VERY heavy handed about dealing with infractions though, and most do get caught. In fact, legitimate advertisers get booted from Google ad programs too Still, there's obviously people making some kind of money out there doing what's described here, since there's plenty of made-for-advertising sites