Opinion Outpost Makes Changes To Web Site

For online survey takers the latest news about Opinion Outpost - one of the best online survey sites - is they dramatically changed their web site, but not without some glitches.

The change, made in November 2013, is said by the company to make navigation easier and more compatible with various formats and devices, including mobile. Here's how the new site looks.

If you've been an Outpost fan you recognize how different the site looks. But, is it better? Well, not so far. In early goings there have been problems. For example, when I've clicked on the "Take A Survey" tab I am returned to the same page and asked the same question. Here's hoping that gets fixed real soon.

As for the rest of the site, while the design changes are significant I wouldn't call them necessary from a user viewpoint. The old design worked just fine for me. But, I'm assuming the back end of things got a significant makeover and that will be better for all concerned. But, we'll have to wait and see on that.

I've often touted Opinion Outpost as one of the best online survey sites. There are lots of surveys to take daily, payment is great and quick (via PayPal is the best), and there are no charges against your winnings when you cash in such as some other sites have done (calling them processing fees). For my monthly collection of winnings/rewards foronline surveys Opinion Outpost is usually at the top of the list.

If you are not a member you should be - irrespective of how their new design looks.

An Online Survey You Should Avoid

When it comes to taking online surveys – you know, the kind where you can win points toward prizes and/or cash – there are some worth taking time for and others that are a total waste of time.

Readers of my Triond articles on the subject of online survey taking, or who view my articles at my Survey Sheriff blog know that I’ve always warned against taking surveys that are about movies, television shows or the like. Why? The answer is simple – these surveys are notorious for having you do the work of taking the survey only to jip you out of any reward. I can’t recount the number of times I’ve taken these surveys (until I got wise and stopped taking them) and completed them only to be told I didn’t qualify – and this AFTER I’ve finished the survey. The surveys are usually quite long, which makes it even more frustrating.

One Site Hosts Most Problem Surveys

There’s one particular survey – it’s always the same – that will pop up over, and over, and over again. It’s typically hosted by Global Test Market (globaltestmarket.com), which is usually a good and reliable online survey site. But over the years it keeps hosting a movie survey that is a trap for the uninformed.

But, how do you know when the survey to be offered is going to be the one about movies and television. You can open the survey and when you find out what it is you can close your browser. Here’s another way – consider it a favor from me.

Whenever you see the image below, you can be assured it is a survey about movies and/or television.

This same browser page has been used for years and years and it has never been used for anything other than a movie/television survey as far as I can recall.

You can even save the image to your desktop to remind yourself to cancel out of the survey whenever you see it.

It may not be a big deal, or maybe you’ll be fine taking your chances that one day this type of survey will pay off. But, if you don’t want to waste your time take my advice. When you see the image above, move on. There are lots of other surveys out there, so why waste your time on this one?

Online Surveys are Squeezing in More Questions Without Paying You

Online surveys of late seem to be squeezing the last ounce of effort out of their members. By this I mean that I’ve noticed that some survey companies are asking questions even after you have completed a survey (either successfully or not).

One of the survey companies I have noticed this from is Opinion Outpost, which I consider to be one of the better online survey companies. It’s kind of sad to see because what it means is that the survey company is asking you additional questions with no intention of rewarding you for your effort.

How It Works

Here’s how it works. Say you complete a survey, or you’ve been disqualified, or the quota for this particular survey has been filled (at least that’s what they tell you). At this point you’d expect that you would be returned to the main page to either take another survey or conclude you survey taking for the moment. But, instead of re-directing you, the survey site says something like “we have just a few more questions for you.” That language, or something like it, is the tip off. What it means is that you will be asked a few more unrelated questions for which you’ll receive nothing.

This behavior is particularly evident when you’ve begun a survey and you know you’ll probably be screened out because the survey is about nothing you are interested in. For example, you are presented with a survey about alcohol consumption. You don’t drink so you know you’ll shortly be screened out of the survey. But, they don’t tell you that. Instead you’ll be directed to the “just a few more questions” page where you’ll be asked some non-alcohol related questions. After answering them guess what? You are told ‘sorry, you didn’t qualify for this survey,’ or ‘the quota has been filled.’

All About The Bottom Line

There’s not much you can do about this new behavior, other than close the survey when you are able to determine you won’t qualify anyway. What’s peculiar about this new approach is that squeezing survey takers and not rewarding them doesn’t make survey takers happier or less likely to catch on to this subterfuge. So, why bother? The answer is, the survey companies are in a business environment and every penny they can squeeze out of you – not an actually penny, but data they didn’t have to pay you for – helps their bottom line. That’s just the way it is.