Google Opinion Rewards Impressions

A couple of months ago, I was looking up ways in which internet users could make money from surveys.  Some of them seems legitimate (others, not so much).  One of the good ones I found is an Android app called "Google Opinion Rewards".  Google sends the user short surveys (usually three to five questions, each taking less than a minute to complete) and then pays out currency for the Google Play Store (to be used in apps, movies, tv, music, et cetera).  I downloaded it and gave it a spin.

After setting up some demographics, your first survey is sent.  After completing it, you are awarded a whole dollar to use in the Play Store (good for an app), opening the Skinner Box.  After that (for me, leastways), surveys came only once every two or three days and each only payed about thirty or forty cents a piece.  On average, I was earning around a dollar a week.  My girlfriend also downloaded the app to her tablet and usually got a survey a day, so she earned money faster than I did, but I know it's about demographics (Google wants answers from a certain group about a certain product, so no biggie).  Your money is tied to your Google account instead of the device, so you could take a survey in the morning on the device and then buy something on the Google Play website on a PC.  The currency expires after a year, so you could save up for more expensive apps.

The slow pace of survey availability (for me) has pros and cons.  Like I said above, the pace is predicated on demographics and it depends on what Google (or the company Google hired to proctor the survey) wanted to know.  Also, I think if somebody did a bunch of surveys in one sitting, they would buy up all the apps and media on their wishlist gratis.  For me, that would kill the fun of doing these surveys, making it more like a job.  I think there is something exciting about seeing the icon for a new survey available after not having done one for a few days (like getting a postcard).

If you use the Google Play store frequently, Google Opinion Rewards is a nice, fun little way to supplement your money on there.  It was a bit of a bummer that Google paid only in currency for their store, but it was made immediately available upon completion.  Other surveys required a PayPal and would pay after a certain amount of time or once you've made a requisite amount of money first.

Requiring the app to take surveys didn't sit too well with me.  It would be nice if there was a way to take these surveys via web browser (even if it's only through a Chrome extension).  While the apps on the store are only for Android devices, there is still a lot of content you can buy ON a PC, FOR the PC (music, movies, et cetera.  Heck, the whole store is available on PC, apps included).

Overall, this was actually a fun app.  The surveys were quick and felt unintrusive (the option for "Prefer Not To Answer" is available on a lot of the questions), plus making a little money for the Google Play store is a nice bonus.  My first purchase was Minecraft Pocket Edition (I may review it later), which took me about six or seven weeks of surveys to afford.  My girlfriend bought a season of a travel TV series.  I don't know what I want to purchase next, but the Google Opinion Rewards app makes it a fun way to slowly earn your way up to the apps and media you want.

--Right now, my next purchase is a coin toss between Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic.  I've played the former on the Nintendo DS and loved it...and I'm already halfway there currency-wise!  I've never played the latter and it's more expensive, but I've heard it's a fantastic RPG.  I've also considered the Final Fantasy series, but those are really pricey compared to other apps.  Ah well, we'll see...