Online Rewards: SwagBucks.com (Search-and-Win)

Swagbucks is one of my new favorite sites.  Lots of websites promise you free game systems and ipods for completing offers, but this one pays you to do what you do (for free) already.  Search the web.

I know, the name sounds sketchy, but skeptics take notice: this site actually delivers.  I'm not saying you'll make enough to pay off your loans, but after using it only a few weeks I've banked enough to earn $15 in Amazon.com gift cards.

Simply make a free Swagbucks account (so you have a place to store your "swagbucks" credit) and start searching.  If your search wins swagbucks (usually 1, but sometimes 2, 5, 10, 20....500), you'll be notified in your search results.  I tend to win something 1-3 times per day.  If you forgot to login before making a winning search...no problem. You'll be prompted to enter your login info to claim your winnings.

You can cash in your points for a variety of gift cards/products, but the best value per point is definitely the $5 Amazon.com gift card (don't worry, you can use multiple on a single purchase).  Additionally, Swagbucks will credit your account with matching swagbucks each time your friends win (up to 100/per) and provides a bunch of channels to obtain "swag codes": essentially coupon codes that credit you instant swagbucks if you enter them into your account.  Soon you'll be getting a FREE $20 gift card every month, or better.  Not bad, right?


A few tips for winning:

• For accessibility, add Swagbucks search to your searchbox at the top of your browser (or install the swagbucks toolbar).  There's an option to do so after you register.

• Instead of going straight to your favorite web addresses (i.e. gmail.com into the address bar), type ex."gmail" into your search and click the first listing in the results. It takes only a second more and gives you more opportunities to win

• Don't search "unnaturally" (i.e. repeatedly searching the same term or typing in gibberish in an effort to win).  It doesn't increase your chances of winning and, according to the FAQ, may be grounds for deactivation of your account.
  

The Swagbucks search engine pulls results from the Google and Ask.com search engines, so you know you're getting quality results.  In my tests, search results nearly mimicked the ones I had been getting in my search engine of choice.  Since discovering Swagbucks, I have all but abandoned traditional search.

Get 3 swagbucks free just for signing up!

Swagbucks [website]