Swagbucks vs. iRazoo: Are Search and Win Sites Worth It?

In the first month that I used Swagbucks I had already won enough points for three $5 Amazon gift cards so this site gets my "best search and win site award". Here's the basics on Swagbucks:

• Search the web (with results from Google and Ask.com) and randomly earn between 1-100 swagbucks.


• Use these swagbucks to purchase a rather large selection of gifts cards, trading cards, video games and consoles, electronics, musical instruments, and lots of band and musician stuff like limited edition posters.


• Refer friends and family and earn what they earn - so if they win a biggie 100 bucker you get the same! They cap it at 100 points per referal tho, but still it's a win win.


• Look for secret Swag Codes in their blog, facebook page and elsewhere to earn even more swagbucks. Plus join in a Swag Code Hunt to find even more.


• Shop and Earn with tons of online retailers and earn a swagbuck for each $5 you spend - the dealio here is that they get an affiliate sale when you buy through them so they reward you with "free" swagbucks.


• Trade in your old cell phones and ipods to earn more with their "Go Green" campaign. Each phone is worth something different for example a Motorola SLVR L7 will get you 44 swagbucks.


• Enter weekly and monthly sweepstakes for great swagbuck prizes up to 1000 swagbucks, or a Greg Bennett COBRA Guitar, an autographed Rolling Stones Lithograph, or better yet a 3-day cruise!

Have you ever heard about those people who make a living by entering and winning sweepstakes and online games? A friend of mine was just telling me about someone a coworker knew who was making a crazy amount of cash doing just that. It sounds like one of those dream jobs doesn't it?

So I was curious today and thought you know what I wonder if Amazon has any books on winning online games and sweepstakes - and of course it is Amazon after all so they did. These three books on how to increase your odds of winning online games and sweepstakes were eye openers for me - they are also the best rated. So if you want to be that guy or girl who always wins - check 'em out.

iRazoo is similar to Swagbucks yet keys on a slightly different approach - iRazoo is also a social search engine that rewards you for voting on the sites within the search results. This human powered search method is being attempted by several sites including Mahalo, Wink, and even Yahoo - we'll see how well it works. Here are the basics of how iRazoo works:

• Enter a search in the iRazoo search bar - for each search you get a chance to instantly win a prize such as a $5 Amazon gift card or even a $500 Amazon gift card!


• At the top of every web page you click on in the results, you can also earn 4 points by voting for or against websites. And another 4 points for leaving a comment about that site (for a daily maximum of 300 points between the two - you must be registered and logged in to get the points)


• Once you have amassed enough points you can redeem them for some great prizes including iPods, Nintendo Wii's, gift cards, digital cameras, and even a full golf set.


• Another way to get points is to refer other people - you get 50 points for every referral - clearly this is the best way to get to your desired prize the fastest. As a bonus to the person you refer they get 50 points as well.

For those of you who can't wait to start winning gift cards here is a link for a free 50 points! Just sign up and bingo bango you've got 50 free points - the rest are up to you. Happy Holidays! (oh yah, if you sign up I'll get 50 points too so thank you in return. have a spiffilicious day from the 'ol Rusty Quill)

After a couple weeks of using iRazoo I was going to chock this one up to the dud pile. Compared to other search and win sites like Swagbucks and Winzy, iRazoo was falling way short - that's not to say you can't use this in conjunction with the others, in fact an extra three $5 Amazon gift cards a month sounds just fine to me (in order to get those gift cards you'd have to get your maximum 300 points per day) But recently iRazoo has made some big improvements.

The people powered search feature is still rather annoying and when it is tied in with a search and win concept is definitely skewed since a good number of people will rate sites just to get their point maximum for the day. Another even more annoying feature is the comment option which show up under the site listing - just to give you a visual... say you have a site like ebay with hundreds of comments - imagine scrolling down past all those comments before you get to your search results. Need I say more?

Update: Irazoo has done some changing for the better, the people recommended results are now listed at the bottom of the regular search results for a much more user friendly search experience. Way to go iRazoo!