Over the years, free traffic exchange sites have been popping up all over the internet, and they always attract mainly MLMers with very little knowledge on internet marketing and also opportunity seekers after a quick and easy buck.
Personally, I disrelish ALL traffic exchanges for a couple of very important reasons.
Firstly, during my earlier days as a marketer, I surfed COUNTLESS exchanges with MULTIPLE tabs open on my computer for hours on end with ZERO results to show for it!
Secondly, I even spent $100s on credits for traffic to my affiliate offers. Again, a total waste of investments for $0 profit!
Put simply, they are nothing but scammy platforms that only fill the pockets of the affiliates as well as the owners who recruit vulnerable folks into the schemes.
But let’s take an in-depth look into these shoddy exchange programs to give you a better understanding and why you should avoid them at all costs, whether you’re in the MLM or Affiliate Marketing industry…
A Traffic Exchange Is a 3 Headed Beast
Depending on your intentions, there are 3 various roles in all traffic exchange programs:
Clicking on Ads
This is the driving force behind the business model. You sacrifice your free time by using your mouse button to click on adverts for hyped up MLM opportunities and low-quality products/services promoted by other members.
Whenever you click on an ad, you’re given a certain time frame (usually seconds) until you’re able to click on the next ad. For each ad you view, you’re given a small reward.
You can either earn credits for free traffic to your own MLM/affiliate offers or even make very minimal amounts of cash that you can eventually withdraw once you meet certain thresholds.
But in some instances, membership upgrades may be required to earn slightly bigger rewards and even actually get paid.
Buying Ad Packages
When you purchase ad packs, you’re simply buying clicks and receiving useless traffic that doesn’t convert into sales and commissions.
But with some exchanges, what you’re really buying into is a “scheme” – an opportunity to open the door to a revenue sharing pool.
Selling Ad Packs
As an affiliate, you can sell ad packages to other suckers for commissions in your pocket.
However, in many cases, you must purchase ad packs yourself before you can make a bunch of money from promoting them.
This is how the top traffic exchange earners REALLY make their money online – from recruiting as many new members and selling as many traffic packages (that don’t work) as possible.
Most of these programs have been labeled as Ponzi and Pyramid schemes, and a number of them have already been closed down by the FTC for fraud.
With the likes of Banners Broker, Traffic Monsoon and also My Advertising Pays (MAPS) already shut down – the future isn’t looking very promising for traffic exchanges.
Why Being a “Clickaholic” is Pointless
Traffic exchange programs are right up your street if your ambition is to waste valuable time surfing endless “mind-numbing” ads every day.
If somebody promised pennies in your pocket from clicking on, let’s say 50 website links per day. Would that excite you?
Would you be happy to spend one whole hour of your time in your job, and receive a measly $1 from your boss for your efforts?
The answer is NO.
Well, this is the same opportunity that’s being served to you on a silver platter by exchanges.
You are worth so much more than that!
If you start up your own online business, learn the skills you need and invest time and effort – you can generate a full-time monthly income instead of earning “peanuts” from surfing ads inside worthless exchange programs.
Why Traffic Will Never Convert Into $
Unfortunately, if you’re trying to get your MLM business opportunity or even affiliate offer out there to the “clickaholics” – your efforts are deemed useless!
But please don’t take it personally and beat yourself up over it because it’s not your fault, you’ll be glad to know!
The members who click on your ads are NOT targeted traffic and are NOT interested in your promotions.
The reason being is that their only intentions are to get paid and/or earn credits for clicking and staring at your advertisement long enough until they can move on to the next one.
So, when your ads don’t generate a single cent online – remember, it’s not you – it’s down to the “click monkeys” LOL.
Don’t waste a single minute of your time and also a single dollar placing ads, no matter what traffic exchange program because they’re all the same… POINTLESS!
Fake Traffic Packages Are Part of a “Scheme”
If you’re one of these people who are more than happy to sell “Ad Packs” that hold no true value, then go ahead and fill your boots!
While you’re at it, why not sell glass hammers and chocolate fireguards to vulnerable people too? 😛
Scamming unsuspecting folks with “fake” traffic packages is not the one.
If you do this, you may also lose respect from those individuals and other online marketers. Your credibility will be in the gutter and very few marketers will trust you again.
You will be known as the guy or lady who “scammed” them online.
If you go down the online scam route, there will be no coming back from it. Well, unless you change your identity and appearance LOL.
Wrapping it up…
I can see how people (especially newbies) easily get hooked on traffic exchange sites because they pay out cash and/or advertising credits for very simple and easy tasks that don’t require brain power.
But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t waste your time surfing ads or even investing into traffic because it will never convert into referrals, sales, and affiliate commissions. Period.
If you do come across marketers boasting about their income with exchanges, it’s because they invest in the “scheme” for a share of the revenue pool and/or simply earn commissions from recruiting suckers who pour money into non-converting traffic packages.
However, there is a bigger and better opportunity for you to make money online from doing what you love in life, which doesn’t involve “clicking for pennies” and taking part in pyramid schemes or other scams.
You have the option to build a REAL business from home – one that can be created in any niche of your choosing and also doesn’t cost you a single $ to get started…
==> Become a Member of Wealthy Affiliate!
Your Friend, Neil 😀
If you have any questions, thoughts or bad experiences with traffic exchange sites, that you’d like to share, we’d LOVE to hear your comments below…
Traffic exchanges used to work! But that was 20 years ago when there were just a few. But nowadays they are everywhere, almost identical to one another and completely useless!
Even in 1999, I had ZERO results with them. So I guess you were one of the EXTREMELY lucky ones 😛
Traffic Exchanges are a thing of the past, so I don’t understand how they’re grwoing in numbers. But thanks for chiming in Patrick.
Been doing Traffic Exchanges for a whole year, bought credit packs, upgrades, tab surfed 10,000 in one day once. Wish I was getting $1 an hour, best I was doing was $1 a day. (Money seems to dry up not long after you sign up). A lot of movement and a few banner clicks and $0 <<<<<< YES YOU READ RIGHT, zero sales. A lot of the surfers are the same ones surfing multiple sites. A lot of the surfers own or admin the traffic exchanges themselves. Since joining the number of exchanges has trebled and there are only a few surfing each site.
Yes, selling hopeless to the hapless as hope is not in my moral code so I never went the "referral" route. It is true you make real cash on some of them but I can't wait three years for the $10-15 minimum withdrawal to be reached. Getting RSI from all the clicking.
WOW, you certainly have gone all out and shown real commitment where traffic exchange programs are concerned. And surfing that many websites in a single day is absolutely staggering! You deserve a massive pat on the back for your efforts, Neil! (Awesome name too!) 😉
$1 per day is a shocking figure, and you deserved a lot more for all the money, blood, sweat and tears you poured into your attempts to make money online. $0 sales don’t surprise me one little bit when your visitors were not only “untargeted”, but also had “ZERO” interest in your product/opportunity because easy money from clicking a mouse is all they desire! You stood a much greater chance of being profitable from creating PPC ads on Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Bing, for the amount of money you spent and lost down the drain on ad packs!
It really does make you feel “scammed” out of money big time (which you are) when you discover the same traffic exchange traffic is repeatedly sent to your offer. More traffic exchanges are popping up because “scammers” know all too well how vulnerable people are online and are willing to part with their money far too easily. People are promised “profit sharing” from the ad packs they purchase which makes them far more appealing to make money from than simply clicking a few ads here and there.
Glad to hear you avoided the referral method because there will be no fingers pointed at you for losing your referrals money, and your great reputation will still remain intact!
That kind of money sucks, man! It’s more like the pocket money that young kids receive! These are all the exact reasons why you should start a LEGIT online business here, and learn how to make money online in an ethical way from your passion that doesn’t scam others through “Pyramid Schemes” aka Traffic Exchange programs.
You should take your wrist and fingers easy, man! At least there will be no more clicking…
Neil
Hey Neil, this is awesome information on traffic exchange websites.I agree with you that there are so many get rich quick schemes available on the internet and many of them are scams.
You only have to type keywords in to Google to see different varieties of easy money, quick money searches, which of course are scammers’ creation paradise.
Hi, Chuka!
Your feedback is much appreciated. 😀 I would say that all get rich quick schemes are scams, lol. Unfortunately, with so many people searching for “easy” money making methods, it creates real opportunities for scammers to fill their own pockets from unethical programs such as Traffic Exchanges!
You have raised a very good point with using Google because you can uncover a whole heap of resourceful information on TEs and other online scams when doing your research.
Hey there, it’s Alexey. The Traffic exchange method is something that I was taught not to do from the beginning, as I started my own online business but I never really understood why.
Well, now I know, and this article covered up this subject really nice. I am SURE many people that think of using traffic exchanges – will change their mind after this article.
Hello, Alexey 🙂
It sounds like you had an awesome online mentor who taught you well when it came to avoiding “scammy” programs like website visitor exchange sites. There was a very good reason for that, and I’m happy you discovered the answers you needed in my post.
If people are open-minded enough and are willing to follow my advice, they can totally avoid being burned by TEs and become involved in REAL internet and affiliate marketing instead.
Thanks for this information.
I was looking into traffic exchange sites some time ago and thought it was the way forward.
I was close to joining one program that I will not name here, but then one friend suggested Affiliate Marketing as a better road to go down.
A lot of people still go for these Pyramid schemes and MLMs etc and clicking Ads, they are just not the way forward for someone who wants to create a successful and reputable online business!
Thanks
Chris
Always a pleasure, Chris!
TEs are definitely NOT the way to online success. But I too even fell into this trap a while back but managed to come to my senses.
Fair enough if you want to keep it your little secret! 😉 LOL. Your friend certainly has a good head on his shoulders, and you do as well for following his advice on affiliate marketing because he’s correct with that statement.
The only real way for marketers to succeed at these Pyramids and Ponzis is to recruit new referrals by the hundreds/thousands and con them into buying ad packs, so the “swindlers” keep filling their deep pockets. There is one scammy rich guy in particular who chants “Buy More, Buy More!” I wonder why he puts so much pressure on his downline and new recruits to keep investing money into ad packs from the MAPS traffic exchange?!
Answer: Because it makes HIM MORE money. However, most members are too naive and gullible to notice what’s happening until their bank accounts start draining away. Then they face real problems, while the “internet millionaire” basks in their money, drives supercars and rubs his rich lifestyle in their faces. This is the untold truth, I’m afraid!
Neil
Great article on free traffic exchanges. I have been looking into this but now realize that it really is a scam. But I did have a look at your legitimate #1 online recommendation and this looks to be a good program. It looks like there are lots of tools and resources and an excellent community. Is this your experience? I think I’ll sign up for the trial now.
Cheers, Bud!
I guess you don’t really know what’s beneath the surface until you start digging down deep into TE programs, and then you realize they are nothing but scams that fool you into believing they send “quality traffic” your direction and make you vast fortunes online.
When you join WA, you will learn everything there is to know about building a successful and genuine biz on the web.
My experience with WA has been nothing short of AMAZING! In my opinion, you will never find better websites, tools, training, and support anywhere else.
Yeah, go for the free WA starter account because you have nothing to lose! 😀
Hi Neil
I must have been hiding under a rock because I’ve never even heard of Traffic Exchange sites. There are a lot of people out there wanting to make money online so you can see how people are lured in. From what you are saying it doesn’t sound as though you are paid well for your efforts. I’m sure there have to be better ways to make money online? Thanks for sharing this information.
Hey, Glenn!
You most certainly have, dude! TE programs have been kicking around the internet for a good number of years. The worthless things were around during 1999 when I first started out online.
Yeah, unfortunately, people do easily get pulled in by these “shiny opportunities”, but very quickly become disappointed when they make no sales and commissions from the poor quality traffic.
You’re welcome, man!
YEP, there sure is a totally better and legit way to earn a REAL income. Simply click here to get started for free.