Paid to click (PTC) is an online
business model
A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...
that draws online traffic from people aiming to earn money from home. PTC websites act as middlemen between advertisers and consumers; the advertiser pays for displaying ads on the PTC website, and a part of this payment goes to the viewer when they view the advertisement.
The PTC model shares some similarities with
pay to surf
Pay to surf (PTS) is an online business model which gained popularity in the late 1990’s and experienced a significant decline following the dot-com crash. PTS companies advertised their main advantage as sharing the advertising revenue with the ...
as both of these models use
referral marketing
Referral marketing is a word-of-mouth initiative designed by a company to incentivize existing customers to introduce their family, friends and contacts to become new customers. Different to pure word-of-mouth strategies which are primarily cust ...
as a promotional method. Furthermore, the PTC model is usually combined with a variety of additional ways to earn, such as completing surveys and simple tasks, playing games, shopping, etc. Users can then redeem their earnings for cash through payment processors as well as a variety of gift cards.
Controversies and criticism
The viability of the PTC business model has been questioned, as
fraudulent clicks have ramped up the expenses for advertisers. With lawsuits filed against the internet search companies, the burden has been placed on
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
,
Yahoo
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...
and others to determine valid clicks from fraudulent ones.
A criticism leveled towards the PTC business model involves the notion that a
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
could potentially attempt to market itself as a successful Internet advertising services company under the guise of a PTC website. The most notable case of this being
Traffic Monsoon
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
, charged with this tactic, via a complaint filed by the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
(SEC).
See also
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Adware
Adware, often called advertising-supported software by its developers, is software that generates revenue for its developer by automatically generating online advertisements in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the ...
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Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing arrangement in which affiliates receive a commission for each visit, signup or sale they generate for a merchant. This arrangement allows businesses to outsource part of the sales process. It is a form of p ...
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Browser toolbar
A browser toolbar is a toolbar that resides within a browser's window. All major web browsers provide support to browser toolbar development as a way to extend the browser's GUI and functionality. Browser toolbars are considered to be a particula ...
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Cost per impression
Cost per impression (CPI) and cost per thousand impressions (CPM) are terms used in traditional advertising media selection, as well as online advertising and marketing related to web traffic. They refer to the cost of traditional advertising or ...
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Internet fraud
Internet fraud is a type of cybercrime fraud or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Inte ...
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Loyalty Program
A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business associated with the program. Today, such programs cover most types of commerce, each having varying features and ...
*
Pay to surf
Pay to surf (PTS) is an online business model which gained popularity in the late 1990’s and experienced a significant decline following the dot-com crash. PTS companies advertised their main advantage as sharing the advertising revenue with the ...
*
Reward website
A reward website is a website that offers rewards for performing tasks, usually related to selected retailers and organisations. These tasks may include, buying goods or services through referral links, submitting content, participating in a survey ...
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Work-at-home scheme
A work-at-home scheme is a get-rich-quick scam in which a victim is lured by an offer to be employed at home, very often doing some simple task in a minimal amount of time with a large amount of income that far exceeds the market rate for the ...
References
{{Reflist
Business models