How many times do you search the internet per day?
If you’re anything like me, you use Google for everything from recipes, to how to change a tire, to how long you’d have to shuffle a deck of cards before you get an exact repeat (you should Google this too, it’ll blow your mind).
We search the web for everything, so you might as well get paid for searching the web and earn money while browsing internet sites.
Why Do Companies Pay You To Search The Web?
Name a search engine…
You said Google, right? Google is one of the biggest companies in the world and the most popular search engine by far.
The company was worth $1210 billion at the end of 2020 and will have exceeded that number by the end of 2021.
To give you a better idea of just how much money that is, it’s $1210,000,000,000.
That’s a lot of zeros.
Most of us can’t comprehend that amount of money, but to put it into perspective, just $1 billion could buy your own private island.
Google’s success means that other competing search engines have their work cut out for them when trying to get users to make the switch to their site, which is why some search engines will pay you for the searches you were going to do anyway if you use their search engine to do so.
Another reason companies might pay you to search the web is for market research.
This is usually through apps or programs that run in the background and collect information on your searches to sell to advertising companies.
Advertisers can then use this data to create targeted ads for different demographics, which is why you often see ads for things online that seem like they were made for you.
What Does The Role Entail?
The good news is that these jobs require you to do very little. Consumer data is extremely valuable.
Even if you don’t think searching laughing cat videos is helpful to anyone, you can still be paid for it, and so you should.
Around 2.5 quintillion (yes, you read that right) bytes of data are generated every single day, and most people aren’t getting paid for the data that they’re providing.
Top companies will pay to collect customer data because regardless of the industry, gathering information about a customer demographic works in their favor to produce better products, provide a better service, or market themselves more successfully further down the line.
The better you know your customers, the better you can serve them, right?!
How Much Money Can You Make Searching The Web?
It may seem underwhelming that websites pay as little as $0.001 per search, however, it soon adds up. How many searches do you do per day, without even trying?
Most of us probably do upwards of 50 searches every single day.
There is a lot of variation in how much you can get paid to search the web, with some websites paying up to $0.39 per search, which could make you around an extra $100 per month from only 10 searches per day.
Looking for ways to make more money online? Read our guide to 6 figures salary.
What To Avoid
If you want to get paid to search the internet, you need to be aware of scam websites.
Whilst most websites like this are legitimate, there are still people creating fake or spam websites in order to catch out unsuspecting victims.
Before you sign up to a website, check the following:
- Does the domain name match up with the company name?
- Does the offer look too good to be true?
- Are you being asked to pay anything upfront?
- Have you read any reviews about the site?
Tips To Make Money Searching The Web
Along with what to avoid, there are some things you should do to maximize the amount of money you can make searching the web.
- Shop around, and sign up to the websites that pay the most
- Set up a Paypal account if you don’t have one, for a safer transfer of money.
- Ensure you browse a website before signing up
- Check how often you will be paid, and by what method. Some websites like to pay in gift cards instead of cash
Websites That Will Pay You For Searching The Web
Now, let’s take a look at some websites that will pay you for searching the web.
Microsoft Rewards
The most popular company that will pay you to search the web is Microsoft. Microsoft is the creator of Bing, one of the main competitors of Google.
Bing has a way to go to become as popular as Google. It currently gets around 20% of all internet searches, whilst Google gets 60%, which is why the company will pay you $0.001 per search to use their search engine instead.
Microsoft Rewards works in levels and when you join the rewards program, you’ll start at level 1, which allows you to earn 150 points per month.
Once you progress to level 2, you’ll be able to earn 600 points per month. You need 5,000 points for a $5 gift card.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks will pay you for multiple minuscule online tasks, and searching the web is one. All you need to do is download the browser extension and search the web as you usually would.
The extension will provide you with answers from Yahoo! Instead of Google. Swagbucks pays 50 points per hour of searching activity, which converts to $0.50.
Once you’ve accumulated $25, you can withdraw your earnings via Paypal or as gift cards.
AskWonder
AskWonder works a little differently. You are assigned a query to look up answers for and write a report for a client.
You can earn anywhere between $8 and $35 per assignment, but it does require more time and effort than other websites offering payment for searching the web, and you’ll need to pass a test to ensure you have the ability to complete these tasks.
Qmee
Qmee is a browser extension that works with all the major search engines and you can earn money from clicking on advertisements that show up on your searches.
Qmee will pay you between $0.10 and $0.20 for every ad you click on.
The website will pay you via Paypal and there is no minimum withdrawal amount so you’re free to withdraw your money at any time.
iRazoo
Similar to Swagbucks, there are many tasks you can do to earn points on iRazoo, and one of those is using iRazoo search, a search engine similar to Google.
You can choose whether you’re paid in gift cards or a Paypal transfer, and you can request your first payment when you reach 3,000 points, which is worth $5.
You can earn anywhere between 1-25 points per search ($0.0016-$0.04), but the number of points you earn is awarded at random, so you can never be sure how much you will earn.
MobileXpression
MobileXpression won’t pay you in cash but you can earn gift cards by using its VPN (virtual private network) on your phone.
There is nothing specific you need to do once you install the VPN, not even search the web, but with the VPN running in the background it collects anonymous data about the way you use the internet.
The website is UK-based, and it claims you can earn enough for a £10 Amazon gift card within 2 weeks.
Making Money Online As A Search Engine Evaluator
Although you can make side hustle money from these websites, none of them are going to replace your 9 to 5.
If you’re seriously interested in making a full-time income while searching the web, you might consider becoming a search engine evaluator.
The only way big search engines stay popular is by providing relevant and useful search results, and you best believe there are people behind the scenes making sure it stays this way.
Search engine evaluator roles involve checking the relevancy of search results, and providing feedback so that big search engines such as Google or Bing can continually improve their search engine and stay at the top of the game.
Unlike the other ways to earn money by searching the web, this is a proper j-o-b, and as such has some requirements you need to meet in order to apply for one of these roles.
You should be interested and up to date on current affairs and pop culture, be great at researching, and some sites will also require you to hold a degree.
Some companies like to interview you to ensure you’d be a good fit for the role, and most companies providing search engine evaluator jobs will want you to complete some tests, in order to assess your abilities.
You can expect to make $12-$15 per hour in this role, with some sites claiming you can make up to $20, which is significantly more than other jobs searching the web.
If you do land a role like this, you won’t be employed by the company, but instead will work as an independent contractor.
Websites that advertise roles like this include Appen.
Final Thoughts On Search Engine That Pays You
If you want to make a little extra money working from home, getting paid to search the web is a great way to do so, as it requires very little effort on your part.
You can continue using search engines as you always do and get paid for the valuable consumer data it provides for big companies.
While you won’t make millions doing this type of work, if you combine it with a few other micro-tasks, such as reading emails, you can make some extra pocket money every month, without contributing much time.
Want to learn more about online jobs? Read one of the following blog posts:
