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Ciao surveys is part of the Greenfield Online group, and claims to be a leader in online research. They operate in 25 countries and in some them their survey operation is connected to online review portals. This article summarises the earning potential of the survey operation, not taking into account the review writing and is based on my five years' experience with the UK branch.

Please note that depending on the country, the payment system and some other aspects of the site's operation would vary. This review will be most relevant to the residents of the United Kingdom.

1. Website:

www.ciao.co.uk

2. Registration and paid surveys available to:

You need a UK bank account to get paid by the UK branch. Each country is a separate operation, some use PayPal.

3. Pay in:

Excellent. Real money straight to your bank account.

4. Site currency:

Excellent. Real money clearly stated on the invitations.

5. Payout threshold:

Excellent. 5, combined with payments for Ciao reviews.

6. Payment per survey:

Poor. In fact, astonishingly poor, with most surveys blatantly offering about 10p for 20-30 minutes.

SOME offer higher payments, but see below in point 8.

They do offer entries into prize draws, but I don't consider these to be a payment until I win at least one.

7. Frequency of surveys:

Good: quite a few every week.

8. How likely you are to get screened out and how long are the "screener" parts?

Poor. In fact, at least for me, worse than poor - absolutely terrible.

I have re-subscribed to Ciao surveys recently, led in by a new interface and system and already stopped event trying to fill them because the screeners are very long and almost invariably end in not qualifying. Considering that the likes of Global Test Market pay 25 cents (around 15p) for much shorter screeners, the complete lack of compensation here is appalling.

9. How long does it take to get to payout:

Poor. Due to all of the above, a person not posting reviews on Ciao would probably need many months if not a year to get to 5.

10. Length, subject and mind-numbing character of the surveys:

Poor. A lot of the screeners (never mind the surveys themselves) surveys are long and boring with questions to which I either don't remember answers or have absolutely no opinion or don't care about.

11. Payment in relation to effort:

Poor. Hopeless, in fact, in the light of 8-10 above.

12. How quickly is the payment made after claiming?

Average. Payments are made monthly, so depending on the day you claim, it can take from few days to over a month.

13. Bottom line:

Possibly worth trying for the occasional better survey, especially if you do Ciao reviews anyway.

Otherwise, hopeless.

Learn more about this author, Magda Healey.
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