Lots of people have come across survey sites online as a way to make money. One such site is called Crowdology.
But with so many sites out there, you might be wondering if this is legit or just another scam?
Crowdology is a get-paid-to survey site that offers between $0.24-$10.00 per survey. It’s owned by Savanta, which is based in the U.K. It might not be a scam, but the negative reviews and lack of consistent information make me uneasy.
Let’s take a closer look to see what this is all about, how it works, what others are saying, and more!
What’s Crowdology About?
Crowdology is a get-paid-to survey website, similar to sites like Swagbucks or Inbox Dollars.
They state that their surveys are done for market research, like most other survey companies, and they get surveys from businesses, agencies, media, education, and government entities. So, there’s a lot of variation in what the surveys could be about.
With Crowdology, you are seeing the same scenario as most other “GPT” survey sites: complete a survey and you can then cash out for rewards or money.
On their website, Crowdology mentions one fact that makes them a little different than some other survey sites, which is that they don’t use a points system.
This means that, whatever surveys you complete, you just get paid for.
No having to figure out the conversion rate and see how many more points you need. You’ll be able to know exactly how much – in a dollar amount – you have made so far, from completing surveys.
How Does Crowdology Work?
If you want to complete surveys through Crowdology, the process for getting started is very simple.
You just go on their website and complete a short application. Then you’ll be sent an activation email.
After that, you’re ready to log in and get started completing surveys.
One thing to note is that you do have to be 18 or older to create a Crowdology account, and it is (supposedly) only open to US residents currently, because they are a US based company – but more on this later.
Once you have completed the account set up, then you should go fill out your personal profile, because this will be used to send you surveys related to your personal information.
To complete a survey, you will have to watch your emails, since that’s where you’ll be informed about ones that are available to you.
Crowdology tries to only send you surveys that pertain to you and, when you receive an email, you have to be prompt about accepting it because most of the surveys have an expiration time.
According to Crowdology, the surveys vary in length depending on the subject, but most take only between 5 and 10 minutes. That makes this a great option for fitting some extra cash earning into your free time.
![Surveys earning page on Crowdology website](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Crowdology-Surveys.png)
When you receive the survey email, you will be told exactly how long the survey should take to complete and how much it will pay.
You can use those factors to determine if you would like to complete it or not.
The longest surveys can pay around $10, but the average survey pays around $0.24 to $2.00.
Crowdology allows you to cash out your payment through either PayPal or as an Amazon certificate.
In order to cash out for PayPal, you need to meet the minimum threshold of at least $8, or $10 for Amazon.
PayPal can take anywhere from two to four business days to appear in your account, and Amazon can take up to four weeks to get emailed to you.
This may seem like quite a long time, but Crowdology states that it’s due to “extra security measures” designed to protect you from fraud and to ensure that the rewards are paid to the correct people.
Who’s Behind This?
When trying to figure out who is behind Crowdology, things get a little complicated. A quick Google search reveals that Morar Consulting Ltd. is the operator of Crowdology.
But in the FAQ page on Crowdology’s website, under the question of “How is my data protected,” we see that Crowdology is a division of MIG Global Ltd.
And yet again, under the page on the website of “Why do we run paid surveys,” it shows that the VIGA team are the owners of the site.
Now, this definitely comes across as shady at first. My first thought was that it must be a scam, because they don’t even know who technically owns it!
But actually, it’s not as shady as it seems on the surface. Apparently, all three of the different companies they list are under the parent company Savanta.
Why they didn’t just come out and say that, I’m not sure.
Regardless, Savanta is a U.K.-based, B2B market research company founded in 2003. So, it’s no wonder why they are in charge of a survey site that claims the surveys are for market research.
However, a red flag pops up when it says that Savanta and all the companies under it are UK-based, because Crowdology specifically says on its website that it’s only open to US residents because it’s a U.S.-based company.
Also, when you start researching into reviews of users, you will find that there are much more UK-based users as opposed to U.S.-based ones.
Why that’s the case I’m not sure. It may be that they changed it recently, but either way it still gives the company a less-than-trustworthy vibe.
What Are Others Saying?
The real way to know if something seems legit or like a scam is to go to reviews from people who have actually tried it.
When you go look at the reviews of Crowdology, there are some good reviews, like, claiming that they always pay out and people like the low minimum threshold. However, the overwhelming majority of reviews from Crowdology users have negative things to say.
A major complaint is that you’ll get blocked as soon as you request a payment – which, of course, is a huge issue.
Someone citing those issues even goes as far as to say not to trust the older reviews because “things change” and that they are not a nice company.
If getting ripped off & robbed is your thing then this is the website for you. Avoid at all cost or you can find out for yourself just to get blocked as soon as you request a payment. This is how this website operates then you can’t even email them to complain , STAY AWAY !!!!!!! Don’t even trust the old reviews from 2 years back because that was then and this is now things change. not a nice company.
– review from James on surveypolice.com
Another issue is that some people claim that someone keeps taking money out of their bank account, albeit their reported numbers are never more than £1.
Others even call it a “complete con,” and that you’ll complete 90% of a survey just to then get booted off with no compensation.
Not all reviews are negative, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that most of them are, which is a red flag as far as I’m concerned.
Conclusion
All things taken into consideration, Crowdology may not be a scam, but countless negative reviews don’t paint the best picture.
And while all those companies listed as “in charge” were all under the same parent company, it seems odd to keep stating different companies, instead of just stating the owner as the parent company consistently.
Now, this (among a few other things) could have been an oversight, or it could have been a blatant lie. There’s no way to know for sure, but it’s something that should be considered nonetheless. So, if you want to try earning some extra income from survey sites, there might be better ones to try out first.
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