What’s the surest sign that the iPad is the world’s hottest tech product right now? It may not be Steve Jobs telling us it’s magical and revolutionary, or the avalanche of coverage on tech blogs. Maybe it’s the arrival of cheesy ads that dangle free iPads in front of people–almost two months before the gizmo even goes on sale.
Earlier today, I was on Facebook, and saw this ad:
Free iPods for 45-year-old males? I’m 45! I’m male! What a happy coincidence! What a rare opportunity!
I clicked on the link and saw this page:
Then I got suspicious–in part because the ad talks about the iPad being “just released!” when the one it talks about giving away is the 3G model that won’t be available for almost three months. I asked a couple of friends to check their Facebook account, and miracle of miracles–the offer was also available to 43-year-old females and 43-year-old males!
Then I also discovered that tweaking the URL on Online Reward Center’s site allowed me to extend the offer to other…demographic groups:
So what’s the deal? I clicked through and found a little fine print about having to complete eight “offers” to receive an iPad:
There was also a lot more fine print at this address. Plus another page which seems to say that you have to have documents notarized as part of the process.
I started to click through the offers, which kept claiming to be “surveys,” although most seemed to be things like credit card offers and sweepstakes and free trials for various services, all of which wanted personal information from me (including, sometimes, my credit card info).
You don’t need to be a marketing guru to figure out that the business model behind the “free iPad” is convincing you to sign up for offers that pay a bounty (aka a referral fee) to those that send business their way.
I eventually reached this page:
Scanning through this, my head hurt, and I gave up on stepping through the deal.
Who’s behind this “Free iPad” offer? It’s not all that easy to figure out. The Facebook ad leads to a site called ThanksMucho.com, which McAfee Site Advisor says has potential security risks. It handed me off to something called “Online Reward Center.” It’s got some impressive-looking seals that don’t link anywhere (I especially like the “We Care” award):
And claims to be sponsored by three name brands: BMG, Discover, and the ever-laudable Video Professor:
But I couldn’t find any prominent mention of who Online Reward Center’s parent company is. Eventually, I found mention on the site of something called “Net Radiance.” By Googling around, I learned that Net Radiance is part of a Florida company, World Avenue, which got into trouble in the past with Florida and Texas for “free” offers and ended up paying those states a total of $1.8 million to settle. According to the Florida Attorney General’s office, World Avenue has done business under dozens of names:
A few years ago, the company attracted its attention for its “free iPod” offers–here’s a San Francisco Chronicle story that, among other things, charges that it paid one of the people quoted as giving it a customer testimonial.
World Avenue’s news page, incidentally, is entirely devoted to the company’s philanthropic activities. That reminds me of Vertrue, the marketing company I accidentally agreed to pay $25 a month to a couple of months back.
I’m curious whether Facebook has any policy about these “free offer” ads–and even more so about whether it has any policy about how an ad can use information it receives from Facebook, such as my gender and age. (Such as: Can it seem to claim I’m getting a special offer because I’m a 45-year-old male whether or not the offer has anything to do with my age and gender?) I’m contacting Facebook about all this and will let you know what I hear.
The ad I followed to the Online Reward Center isn’t the only “free iPad” one on Facebook. I chuckled at this one–which seems to be from a different company and which shows the world’s fattest iPad:
A friend who happens to be 33 and male saw an ad looking for iPad testers who are 33 and male:
…and when I Googled for “Free iPad,” I got ads that led to offers from both World Avenue and other companies:
(That last ad’s offer of a thousand bucks towards the purchase of an iPad is particularly generous given that the top-of-the-line iPad lists for $829.)
I’m also, um, fond of this ad, which not only says the iPad sells for $1,000 but shows an imaginary Mac-like widescreen model with an optical drive:
That’s a lot of opportunities to get a free iPad. Anyone want to hazard any guessses about how many free iPads will indeed be doled out?
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February 1st, 2010 at 10:08 am
Most of them sites look like scams but there are some legit sites. I’m from the UK and we have a forum called eXceem, (exceem.co.uk/forums) it is a forum dedicated to freebie hunting, have a read around and you’ll see there are quite a few people who have recieved some free stuff.
It is possible to receive gadgets like an iPad for free but it does require a lot of effort. It is a an affiliate marketing scheme, let me explain it in 3 steps.
1. You sign upto a ‘freebie network’
2. Complete one sponsored offer
3. Get some friends to sign up and complete a sponsored offer as well.
Every time an offer is completed the ‘freebie network’ get paid a commission. This then goes towards your free gift. The amount of friends that need to be referred and complete an offer varies for what gadget you want.
I’m not here to promote my sites but here to show you that not all these ads are scams! Best to do your homework before signing up to any!
February 1st, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Uh, Harry, I think you missed the requirement that to get an iPad you must also accept a free six-month stay at Achebaworld, the state of the art casino resort in Abijan. Attendance would be taken.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:20 pm
“If you are bankrupt and dead…”
Nice one!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Whenever someone submits their email to those websites, the affiliate (the person promoting the offer on Facebook) will received $1-$1.50
If tens of thousands of people see the ad everyday, and a fraction of them clicks on them, and a fraction of that fraction fills in their email, then you’re talking about at least $100/day. And that’s JUST from Facebook. (There’s Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.)
People that don’t know any better call these “free” offers a scam, but they’re nothing of that sort. You really can and WILL get a free iPad when it launches, but ONLY if you complete the specified number of offers.
Many people immediately pass it on as a scam, but these comapnies really do send out free iPods, iPads, laptops, and gift cards. As for the offers you’re signing up to, most of them are free trial offers that only charge your credit card the next month if you don’t cancel. Most people forget to cancel (which is their problem) and that is where these companies make money.
Affiliate drives traffic to offer $$$ gets paid $$$ > Merchant (one giving away the free iPad) uses the email to promote other things and gets $$$$ from driving sales to the company (like Netflix) > user gets free iPad.
If you really want to get a free laptop, iPad, or whatever, here’s what I’d recommend you do. (Yes, you will get lots of spam and a bunch of telephone calls from telemarketers, so here’s why you need to do the following.)
1. Make a new email account and use that to participate in the offer
2. Get a prepaid cellphone and use that as your number
3. Make an Excel file with the offers joined and when you have to cancel so you don’t get billed
4. Enjoy your free iPad/laptop/whatever
Wow, sorry for the long comment, just wanted to give you an idea of what’s going on.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:27 am
Although you seem to have stumbled across a perhaps, less than believable, offer here – the concept is a good and perfectly legitimate one. Many sites that offer free iPads or other gadgets make it almost impossible to fulfil the requirements to be eligible to actually receive what you are being offered – but there are also some excellent sites out there that really do provide these items for ‘free’ -in return for completing a sponsored offer and referring a number of others to do the same. I myself have received over £5000 worth of electronics in this way, but from a UK based site called freebiejeebies. Check out http://www.freebiejeebiesgadgets.com/free-ipad and feel free to review this related type of scheme and compare the pros and cons with this facebook based advertising you have seen. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Hey, I really appreciate your research. Although I am not one of those easy believers I am glad that somebody is helping people to save some time and headache.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:41 am
Very well done research and very accurate and to the point. Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a law that states ALL advertisements MUST present what they’re selling / doing in full clear plain bold letters and ALL downsides MUST be in bigger and bold print than upsides?
I don’t know about John but I consider ANYTHING that makes you jump through hoops, ‘eventually’ pay money (somewhere someway if you have less moeny in your bank account by the time your HOLDING the product IN YOUR OWN HANDS than before) then its a scam.
E.G Burger King is not a scam. You hand them money, and they hand you a burger, and before you even considered making the purchase they told you up-front what your going to expect to pay for that burger. SALES TAX IS A SCAM it hides how much your going to have to pay making you calculate it yourself.
Vector Services (Knife selling company) is a scam. They promise to pay you money but you spend more money getting the knives to sell to people than you ever make.
YES I agree you can make TONS of money, but its NOT GUARANTEED and anything not guaranteed is a scam.
That’s what I consider a scam. Non-upfront about MONEY.
Anyone else out there agree these are all scams? If all these bad things were PROHIBITED by law then the world would be MUCH better place. Companies make more money because customers are more confident in what they’re purchasing. Less returns, less lawsuits. Consumers more happy because DUH you know what your getting now and know how much your paying for it.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:35 am
I’d love to know why all you people are calling these advertising methods scams! They simply aren’t!
FreebieJeebies are a UK based company whose sponsors include HSBC, Alliance and Leicester, Sky, BT, The AA, Asda, Carephone Warehouse and loads more. DO you think that these companies would sponsor a scam?
These ‘free ipad’ sites are simply a middle man putting you in touch with one of these companies, and although some offers require payment, the majority have terms like ‘open a current account’ which requires no money, the big banks just want you to try their product over someone elses. For this privilege, they pay FreebieJeebies ~£20. You then recommend friends. This money is used to pay for your gift. Simple as. No scam, no money.
It’s simply clever advertising by global companies. You get a free iPad and they get however many new customers.
For goodness sake people, make up your own mind.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:12 am
John you ignorant twit (sorry, just like the sound of that…) It is a scam! By the time you jump through all the hoops, you have spent a minimum of 40 hours and several hundred dollars in “compliance.”
Maybe if you are bankrupt and dead, that makes sense! BTW the iPad sells for under $500 USD and if you really jump through all the SPAM (yes John the S word again) you will spend at least $650 USD on offers and the 40 hours at $15 USD = $600 USD… Sheeeeez John, your “FREE” iPad cost you over $1,200 USD… yeppers amigo a real deal and a real steal… from your pocket… Get a life my friend!
February 6th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Harry, thanks for doing the work on this. I was suspicious too and decided to Google “Online Reward Center Apple iPad”, which is how I got to your posting. Saved me a lot of time and trouble trying to figure it out myself!
February 6th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I totally agree with getting a disposable email account and cell phone. If you give that Net Radiance company your email, you’ll be spammed hundreds of times, and putting a block there on your email probably won’t stop the spam. In addition, after some weeks or months your email may make its way to real criminal spammers, prescription drugs, Nigeran, deceptive spam, and some won’t have the addresses, links or valid email paths req by law. They can and have totally violate privacy and let the email address out to many Internet parties, some of whom can’t be trusted, nor does anyone know. You private information wil probably be totaly out of control and to untold numbers of unethical, illegal parties.
February 6th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Great research!! helps a lot of people out
February 6th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
This has to be illegal, I finished one page of survey and gave out my information and then stopped and tried to go back on my web browser and then just closed it off and I got a text from a marketer, right after!! Stay away from this!! unbelievable.. I didn’t even finish the survey
February 7th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
You know, I did a “Free Apple iPad” offer, but it asked me to do some OTHER offers which causes a chain reaction of offers but NEVER tells me when the iPad offer was complete… maybe because there was no “Next Page” or “Complete” button… Oh, there was also a survey, but the was a “Skip” button, at least! There was a bonus too, and I chose one, but I had to do a survey and choose some offers again… and in my conclusion, it seems like a HUGE scam… but I don’t know until it comes one day…
February 8th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I gotta admit, I clicked on the same facebook ad which led to run a search and end up here. Rule of thumb, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Allocate your energies into a real paying gig/job for your ipad.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Wow, this has made my day. This is some hilarious stuff. Back in the day, when they originally did these offers I used to hear people actually receiving free ipods etc. Now it’s out of control.
February 11th, 2010 at 7:27 am
HI
i love it when people are sceptical about these networks without giving it a go. i was sceptical till i tried it, i took the plunge as all the offers were from massive companys likve lovefilm, coral gala bingo, the aa to name but a few.
try it look at my website for more info http://www.freegadgets360.com for proof pics, hints and how to do it n recieve gifrs.
February 11th, 2010 at 7:43 am
only a matter of time lol. just wait for more and more to surface when it launches
become a fan of the ipad at http://www.facebook.com/pages/AppleR-iPad/276371851393?ref=ts
February 11th, 2010 at 9:48 am
These people that post the affiliate network links make a mint! But why buy facebook adverts? The pages are just as effective, i did the same thing for the nexus one. Not quite the same effect as an apple product though…
February 12th, 2010 at 11:33 am
So, I used rewards center way back to get an iPod–and they really did send me one. I was careful to follow the rules, chose which trials to sign up for carefully, and it worked. Sure, you buy $100 – $200 worth of crap you don’t need and have to be sure to cancel memberships, etc.
But it’s worth it to me to get a ~$700 device for around $150 plus a couple hours of time. They make it a pain to complete the requirements–but not that big of a pain. Obviously, the inconvenience is enough for most people such that Rewards Center can expect to not have to actually give so many iPads that their profit on referrals is erased.
We’ll see if it goes as smoothly this time as the iPod did.
It may not–so bear in mind that if you aren’t comfortable with writing demand letters, calling states’ attorneys general offices or potentially filing a small claims court action then this might not be a road you want to go down. There’s no doubt that it’s sketchy.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:57 am
While it’s true that these offers are put out there to exploit inocent facebook users and turn them into survey warriors, not all free offer sites are like this. I run the website freeiphoneinitiative.co.uk which operates through FreebieJeebies free offers network to allow people to gain free products from iPhones to HDTVs for signing up to legitimate free offers from REPUTABLE companies such as lovefilm and HSBC, then get a given number of friends to do the same.
This business model is tried and tested – the offer company get £20-30 every time someone trials a product, of which they take a percentage as commission and pass the rest on towards the free product – 20 friends = a £400 iphone. When I first saw this scheme I thought it must be a scam but after looking into it and discovering that multinational corporations like Sky and HSBC were getting involved, I quickly changed my mind..
Just my input ;)
Tom Harding
February 13th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
The websites that require only one or two offers to be completed and then want a bunch of referrals pretty much ARE a scam. Yeah, they’ll send you your product if you finish, but don’t worry, you’ll never find enough friends and family that’ll agree to do it. Everyone feels like it’s a scam, so good luck convincing others to be your referrals.
February 14th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
I’ve been curious about these offers, wondering how it works and just how scammy they are. Thanks for research and all the comments.
When I actually clicked on one of the free iPad ads, it wouldn’t let me close the window until it showed several successive popups begging me not to leave without signing up. The tipoff of a scam was they promised that I could have my iPad in 5 days!
February 14th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
yeah, i seen these ads on facebook. “We are in desperate need of iPad testers. if you are 16, and male, you qualify” Whad ya know? im 16, and male. Im savvy about scams and that unrealistic coincidence signaled an alarm immediatly. i clicked it just for the hell of it, and read that barely visible hazy gray print at the bottom. “must be 18 or older to qualify” i hit the “back” button on my browser to see the initial ad “IF YOU ARE 16, AND MALE, YOU QUALIFY!!!”….”must me 18 or older to qualify”… “IF YOU ARE 16, YOU QUALIFY!!!”
I dunno if this is a toatal scam or not, but i think that constitutes a blatant false advertising infringment, and if they can decive you with that, they will decive you elsewhere.
February 15th, 2010 at 10:57 am
dont forget http://www.getfreeipad.net !
February 16th, 2010 at 12:22 am
*** this is completely true info that is is from a regular person – fa real! lol
so my roommate decided to sign up for this. i laughed at him so hard, thinkning “what a sucker”. i just couldnt believe that he would fall for that crap.
well, im the idiot. after about 6-8 weeks, he got a BRAND NEW iPhone 32GB 3GS! i was freakin shocked! i just couldnt believe it… but after his abundant research, this is basically what he said:
there are some companies out there who appear very skeptical, that i woudnt trust. but i looked around for the omst reliable one. i figured if i document it, then legally, eventually, im covered. i just had to do EXACTLY as they said, and follow every single procedure. He also said that there some of the free offeres he signed up for and then when he cancelled they never sent him confirmation of his cancellation, so he had to take time contacting them and having them send him an email detainling that he did in fact make the purchase, and what he had it for whatever length of time. He then emailed it back to the company hewas getting the free offers from. THIS is where the pain in the butt is.
over all i asked him how much he spent in money, time, and stress. he said it costs him about $57 and change, he spent a total of about 4 hours back and forth over several days with emails and phone calls, and that it was indeed a bit of a pain keeping EXACT track of everyting. he said is what the company is betting in is human error, of which they see alot of. it is NOT in your favor to be able to be that diligent. so they make out. \
either way the companies for whom you sign up would have to pay for advertising, they merely choose to do it through these offer companies. they might say something like “for evey one person you get to sign up for our blockbuster we’ll give you $10″, which in their eyes is probably worth it based on the revenue form the average customer. then after the offer-comany (the one giving away the free stuff) has totalled up all of these deals (which is why they are categorized, to make them profit) they have made enough money to cover all of their expenses, may whoever else, and buy your electronics. they probably receive them in bulk anyway, and already get a discount who konw.
LAST, i can say that i, alike many other people, would NEVER have belived it had i not SEEN IT WIHT MY OWN EYES. i dang near crapped myself watching my roommate flash his new iPhone 3GS 32GB in front of me from the box…
SO it would appear that as long as you ACTUALLY DO EVERY THING THEY TELL YOU, it may take about 4-6 weeks in total to get it and may cost you about $25-$50, but heck, isnt that worth it!? i mean cmon even if you sell the stuff for %50 off its still a HUGE profit! then take the profit and buy it from a place with a warranty heheheheh
btw, its only a scam if its suuuuuuuuuuuper shady, or your just not diligent enough to go through all the steps. if your not – DONT TRY! youll just end up wasting time and money you didnt want to. im going to try it.
GOOD LUCK!
February 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
LOOK! People are scamming in the comments!
**looks at Tom and mj**
February 21st, 2010 at 10:11 am
http://www.simplyfreeipad.com this is very real… check out the gallery for all the freebies that i have received!
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I just got an “invite” which took me into this mess from a friend of mine on facebook. IMHO anything which generates so much keyboard time from so many if the recipient of the “Free” item is to be rewarded is a “hit based” ponzi scheme, and a massive scam.
My particular experience with these web pages got my cell phone very temporarily subscribed to a for charge messaging service which was legitimate enough that I was able to immediately unsubscribe myself.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:32 am
wow… that`s nice
February 24th, 2010 at 3:48 am
Yeah. It hasn’t been released yet. I just got one when I visited this page too 0_0
February 24th, 2010 at 5:43 am
And to think that Google does “no evil” with its massive network of LIE ADS.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:33 am
of course these offers are scam. i saw a spam comment on one site saying these offers are legit and that the person already got his iPdad. puh-leeze! it didn’t even come out yet!
March 13th, 2010 at 1:13 am
If only we learned to read the offers before we clicked and signed up. We wouldn’t be left wondering why our spam mails starting spewing “Enlarge your man parts today!” :)
March 13th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
These links you’ve posted do look suspicious, but if you read around and find a reputable site it does work. Obviously at this stage you can’t get the iPad as it’s not been released, but these websites have been around for years giving free ipods and stuff.
And whoever said you’ll never find enough friends, an iPod nano only requires 5 friends to sign up and complete an offer (a free trial such as LoveFilm) If you really can’t find 5 friends who would take part in a free trial I feel sorry for you.
And btw I’m not here to promote my website or anything, so why would I bother posting this if it wasn’t true?
March 13th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
t.carney@comcast.net
March 19th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
well http://killerthoughts.com is giving away an ipad just for posting a thought on the website. but im not sure if you can post many times to get more chances to win.
March 21st, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I wonder how many of the “this isn’t a scam” comments here are part of people trying to complete an “offer” to get a free iPad… :)