Not long ago I did a review on a fairly new program called Cash Gopher and there were too many question marks for me, so I ended up taking a wait and see approach. As usual you all shared your thoughts, and as part of that I kept hearing more about a program that I've known about and has been around for awhile called the Gomez PEER Zone Community. So it seemed the right time to add a review about this company since it appears to be a viable alternative to Cash Gopher which I wasn’t really feeling. I still love you MyLot though.
So what is Gomez PEER Zone?
If you’re thinking it’s a new Latin restaurant then you’re wrong. But it may address your appetite for legitimate ways to make money at home. Gomez Peer Zone is basically a subsidiary of Compuware Gomez which was established in 1997 and has a decent BBB rating (if that holds a lot of weight with you). This is important to note because it goes to show you this company has been around and established. It’s not in beta!
In any event, companies hire the Gomez group to run tests on their website's performance. This helps business owners identify network bottlenecks and any performance problems that can basically affect user experience and thus their money. The type of things they test is how website performs depending on the type of connection (Dial-up, DSL, Cable, etc), browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc), number of users, etc. It’s not practical for Gomez to buy multiple computers and trying to replicate real world usage and scenarios. So instead they get folks like you and I to join their PEER community and they tap into your computer to run these tests and get the data they need. Are you now wondering how this is all done?
How to get started with the Gomez PEER Zone Community?
You fill out an application, download their free PC Based only PEER software. Then keep your computer turned on so Gomez can see your PEER is ready and waiting. At this point you are in “pending” status. Your account will get turned on and in “active” status at some point in the future. This often depends on demographics and they will tend to pick those whose computers are always available. When you become active, they will start using the software to test the speed and performance of websites. It runs in the background and you can set it so you never even see it unless you want to check your stats.
Allegedly, this software has no clue about what you are doing and where you do it. It is not like all those other cookies that advertisers drop hither and tither to target your habits. All they can tell is if your computer is on and the PEER software is running.
This all sounds harmless enough in theory. But I’m still wary by nature and I’m sure you are to. It’s a good thing to be in this industry. However considering the longevity of the company and what I’ve read thus far, I feel a lot more comfortable with this company.
Computer requirements
You must have an Internet connection, a 500 Mhz Pentium III or better, Windows XP, NT, 2000 or 2003 Operating System, 128 MB RAM, and 40 MB of free hard disk space. You must also have the ability to visit secured or SSL encrypted pages.
How much can you earn?
We are not talking big bucks here. Like so many of the opportunities I promote, this is one small part of a larger plan of multiple streams of income. Money is money I always say and every little bit adds up especially when it doesn’t involve doing anything but turning on your computer.
One of the things I like is that the monthly threshold to get paid is so low. It is only $5. Considering how little they pay you, it’s a good policy to keep the threshold so low so it’s relatively easy to reach.
So what is the exact amount you earn?
Well it depends on what country you’re in. Basically, you get paid a teeny fraction of a penny for each minute they hook up with your computer to run a test. Sadly, the USA has one of the lowest pay rates ($0.000125 ). Our fine northern neighbors in Canada and the others in the British Commonwealth have the highest rate $0.0005000. Most of the rest of the world will get you $0.000250. Why is there such a discrepancy? My guess is supply and demand like everything else. You have to keep in mind there are already endless streams of “techno” information available about USA Internet connections and usage. Oh by the way, don’t try to be slick and claim you’re in a higher paying country when your ass is right here in the US. They go by your IP address although I know that can easily be faked. Either way I wouldn’t encourage you to do it.
Online time is credited in 15 minute increments and the max is amount is $.08/a day. You could almost reach the monthly threshold of $5 just with this, if you were logged on 24/7 which I am.
How To Make More Money?
Like damn near every online opportunity I review there is a referral program. You’re probably seeing more and more why I choose affiliate marketing as an online career. In any event, you’re paid $1 per referral. But they have to reach an active status in order to get the credit. This makes sense for the company. Anyone that has done a good amount of referring knows a lot of your referrals are deadbeats users that aren’t active. So Peer Gomez isn’t trying to lose money by giving you a $1 for people’s data they can’t even use. Like most companies with a referral program they provide you banners to put on your website.
How To Track Your Money?
A Status Page is part of your PEER download. You can choose to have it pop up each time you open Windows, but a better, less annoying, option that most people choose is to just let it do its thing and open it from the status bar icon to check their stats. It will tell you exactly how many minutes you have been logged on, how many minutes they used your computer to process a request and how many active referrals you have. No secrets here, you will always know where you stand.
How do you get paid?
Simple and clean. After you reach the $5 threshold, you get paid on the first of the month via Pal Pal The maximum monthly amount is $45.
Here is what I like:
- The threshold is $5 and to me that is hardly even a threshold. That shows me that are not going to make you wait around forever.
-They have gone through several payment plans, but thankfully they settled on Pay Pal as their payment method, and my guess due to the reputation and stability of Pay Pal that will be where is stays.
-They have been around for a number of years which is an eternity in Internet years. So it is not one of those beta things or test drives. They have a track record and that is always a good sign in my book.
-For a computer geek like me who spend half my life online, the fact that you earn by being online makes this something that is appealing to anyone!
-Anyone that has access to more than one machine can put this on all of them just use the same email and user name account and get double the rewards. I read one guy owns a store and has it running on like six machines!
-One of the reasons I disliked Cash Gopher was that their software changed ads and did some other funky things. As a website owner anything changes ads on my site is stealing money from me. I know it’s not something a regular user would care about. But either way I appreciate that Gomez PEER has nothing to do with that.
Cons
As usual I have to take a look at the down side of these things or you would never get the full picture. I definitely like this a lot better than Cash Gopher, but it is far from perfect. So here goes.
- To me I would think one of the ways to take the best advantage of this thing is to leave the PC on overnight and let PEER do its thing. However, in order to do that, you have to disable the 'sleep' mode and automatic shut down features, that are energy saving devices. I know people with laptops that need it to shut down for a few hours because if they stay on endlessly the performance goes wacky. So be aware of that. Will the pennies earned counteract the power used? I don't know, but something to ponder.
- Not everyone gets to active status and those that do sometimes have to wait for months. As with surveys there are certain demographics they are looking for and even though you download the software and keep it on and available, they may not activate you. I read the complainers going on and on about this, saying that makes it a scam, when it is probably just demographics. Those same people will say a survey company is a scam because they don't qualify. We here know better. The good news is you can still refer people and get credit for them (only when they are activated) even if you are in the pending or inactive mode. They say to keep your computer running two hours a day. I would keep it on all day, every day at first until they activate me, so any time they check, it is up and running!
- This software is PC only. As a Mac only house, I hate when companies don’t support Macs. But I understand that it’s just business. There are more PCs than there are Macs so it only makes sense to support them. Fortunately I have a Mac running as a PC so I can still participate. But if you don’t have this option on your Mac, you’re screwed.
- Earning potential discrepancies. As we stated earlier there are certain countries that will make a lot more and thus reach payout faster. For folks in the U.S. it will take longer to bring in earnings. But how do you complain when you’re getting paid to do nothing but keeping the computer turned on? You can’t but I know some of you are bound to. So it was worth mentioning.
- Pay Pal. I love Pay Pal don't get me wrong, I think it is the one of the best ways to go these days with quick and secure payments. I exclusively use it myself. But paypal isn’t always loved by many people for various reasons or isn’t an option. So that may turn some people off. By the way when you sign up for this thing, be SURE the email address you use is the same email address you use with Pay Pal. A lot of you use the free Gmail or Yahoo for your surveys and GPT sites which is something I highly recommend. But for this when you sign up you need to use your Pay Pal email or you will never get paid.
- Computer may become sluggish. They claim their program won’t slow down your computer. Yeah in most conditions that is probably the case… but what about if you have dial up? What about if your RAM memory is almost used up? What about if your computer is on it’s last leg and just older than a VCR? These are all things that could could affect your speed when they are using your PEER software to process a request. So if your computer already tends to run slow then you may want to avoid adding anything else that will contribute to that problem. But if your computer is up to snuff and purrs like a kitten then chances are you won’t notice any changes. However I just think they should better qualify their claim.
So is the Gomez PEER Community a scam?
From everything I can tell this seems to be a legitimate opportunity to get some extra cash into your Pay Pal account each month without a whole lot of energy on your part. They have history and a record of making regular payments. It gives companies helpful information about the performance of their websites and pays you a little change for the terrible “trouble” of letting them use your computer. Sure It’s not much, but hey, you know my mantra. Every penny counts especially when you don’t need to actively work to get it.
Either way, let me know what you guys think about this company. Would you give it a shot? Have you tried it? Let a brother know below.
By the way if you were rolling your eyes as you read about the money earned with this program and are looking for “real work from home jobs” that pay a lot more, you can visit our daily updated work at home jobs page by clicking here.
See, was all that attitude really necessary? lol
