Why You Shouldn’t Use Swagbucks as Your Search Engine
I’d like to point out that Ron, an employee of Swagbucks was kind enough to visit the site and address some of the concerns I had with the program and I have to admit I was impressed that they took the time to do some damage control. Please read the Swagbucks response to the post. I am now using the system and testing it out. I have also written a positive review of Swagbucks based on the last few months of rare usuage.
My original intention with this article was to write something positive about a search engine called Swagbucks. As the name suggests the site gives out random swag bucks as you use their search engine just as you would use any other. The thing that drew me to to this unique concept was the fact that they use the Google Search engine to bring you your results. I’ll be honest in that while I may not agree with all of the ways that Google assigns rank for search results they do have the most extensive searches and usually provide fairly accurate results. Their sponsored results are also kept fairly out of the way and are easily identifiable. Sponsored results appear at the top of your search and on the sides only, never in between searches.
How Swagbucks works is they provide you with a search page similar to any search engine landing page with a box provided to enter your search term. Hit enter or click the search button to be on your way. Randomly throughout your searching you may win swagbucks. You know you’ve received some because they insert a small notice at the top of your search page advising you of how many swagbucks you’ve won which can range frmo $1 to $5. You can then trade in yoru swagbucks for merchandise at their own shop. The merchandise can range from a $5 Starbucks gift card to a $50 Best Buy gift card to a wide variety of other interesting gifts.
One $5 Starbucks Gift Card would cost you 60 Swagbucks. Examples of some of the gifts you can receive from Swagbucks
I thought this was a golden idea. I spend 12-15 hours a day on the computer and have Google as my homepage and if I could earn a few extra bucks while searching then I figure why not. It was the fact that I could get a free cup of coffee once a week or even save up for a new mouse or keyboard using a Best Buy gift card even if it took a few months. Great so I signed up for an account which is obviously free and started to check it out and get familiar with it and right away I noticed the problems.
While it looks like they have completely styled their search results to look like Google they appear to be providing filtered custom results with injected sponsored listings. I opened google in one window and swagbucks in another window and ran the same search. The number of results was drastically different. Here are my beefs with this new search engine.
1. Drastically different number of results returned although they claim they are using Google’s search engine for results. I searched for the term “Fight Club” in both engines and this is what I got back:
Swagbucks: 
Google: 
Now… This may not necessarily be a problem. As we all know Google usually has tonnes of duplicate search results so swagbucks may be omitting the duplicates automatically. That would be cool IF there was a way to even see that many results. Just like the normal Google Search 
Engine Swagbucks has pagination at the bottom which lists how many pages of search results there are. At the bottom of a Google search page you usually see numbers from 1…….10 with a Next button. Swagbucks, despite telling you there are 4 million results for “Fight Club” will only let you see up to 4 pages of results. If you click the 4th page on swagbucks thats it. The end of the road. No more pages after four no matter how many results were found where on the other hand with Google if you click the 10th page it just adjusts and shows you the next 20 pages. Swagbucks has limited you to only 4 pages of the millions of possible results. Big no no!
2. Swagbucks injects sponsored search results inbetween the normal results. This is deceiving and I hate visiting websites that trick me into clicking their ads. Everyone needs to make money especially sites providing services. There are high costs and such hosting fees and technical support & upgrades where needed however tricking your customers into clicking your sponsored results is sneaky and just plain wrong. With some of the more reputable search engines such as Google their advertisements are clearly labeled as such and are removed from the actual search results. The advertisements do not appear highlighted. I did that on the image to illustrate where they are placed.
3. Now even if the first two things discussed above were non-issues, this last point here would almost definitely turn me off from Swagbucks. On the search page they have a banner labeled, “Be the next winner! Winning Tips.” So you’re thinking great… they’ve got some tips on how I can earn more swagbucks while surfing and searching. They offer 8 tips on how you can win more swag. I’m not going to get into the first 7 because in my opinion their 8th tip trumps the previous 7 by a longshot. It goes like this
TIP #8
Doing a TON of Searches Will Not Help You Win.
Really. While you may think it will help you win, it will actually ensure you won’t. Only your first 20 searches in a given day make you eligible to win a Swag Buck. The best way to win is to use swagbucks.com - search & win whenever you need to search the web. Clicking links, whether they’re sponsored links or search results, will not help you win. swagbucks.com - search & win offers no incentives or rewards for clicking on them.
Now come on. Their 8th and final tip is that by using their search engine too much it will ensure you won’t win anything. So the more I use the site the less likely I am to win anything until it gets to the point where they make sure I don’t win anything. Now where’s the incentive there?
That last paragraph there just about sums it up. Since when do companies penalize you for using and enjoying their service or product. Thanks swag for saving me the time of wasting my time!
i use swagbucks.com and i like it. i think the reason they do the 20 searches is because they don’t want people doing lots of random searches, idk. but i do know i have won a couple starbucks cards on this
hey jared.. grats on your cards
That was my first thought when I saw this. I buy starbucks every day and if my searches could get my a free coffee hey why not.. but not if they handle gaming that way.
If they are worried about people cheating the system they should implement a better ways to prevent it. Working on the web and playing on the web i spend insane amounts of time online and I am constantly using google for valid searches both at work and at home. If I were to use something like swagbucks and have to filter and weed through their camouflaged sponsored ads then Id hate to be penalized just because I use it too much.
They also shouldn’t limit the number of pages you can see… I havent found a way to see more than 4 pages of search results regardless of how many there are.
If I may chime in, I work for SwagBucks and I think there are some very good points being discussed here that I could shed some light on.
Swag Bucks is one of the only incentivized search engines to feature google results. The reason we only feature 4 pages of results, is based on the miniscule number of searches that result in page views beyond the first page of results. Most people who don’t find the “right” link on the first page of results, are far more likely to alter their query, than to dig deeper into the results. For that reason, we disagree with your assertion that limiting the number of results reduces the relevance and quality of our results.
As for the mixed results, SwagBucks.com ensures that all sponsored results are clearly identified as such. Furthermore, our search feed is modeled after the Dogpile search engine, which features a dynamic mix of sponsored and organic results according to the keyword being searched. Their insight is that a user who searches the term “plumber” (to take one example) is far more likely to be looking for an actual plumber, than a Wikipedia article describing the profession and its history. While I am sympathetic to your desire to see the results be separated, it is worth noting that Dogpile has won the JD Powers and Associates award for customer satisfaction for the past two years, and they’ve done so using precisely the type of mixed result we feature. It is a hard notion for many to accept, but sometimes, mixed results ARE the most relevant.
Finally, the objection you raise to Rule # 8 on our “Winning Tips” page must be taken in context. We encourage users to use our engine naturally, and not to “game” the results. The truth is that we have implemented new anti-fraud techniques that have allowed us to move away from the 20 search-per-day cap that you allude to. We will update the Tips-page accordingly, but what was true before is still true now: the best way to win Swag Bucks (and the only method we support) is to use our engine for genuine discovery. I can assure you and all your readers that individuals using our engines in this fashion WILL NOT be prevented from winning Swag Bucks, regardless of the number of daily queries they run.
Hey Ron,
First I’d like to thank you for commenting on the article. My intention with it was not to “trash” swagbucks in any serious way. In all honesty I was excited when I came across it and wanted to start using it right away. While you are correct that most people don’t care to see past the first page I think there should still be an option for more advanced users to see all results. I for example search deep in Google results often especially because of search engine optimization I do for some of my clients therefore I’m constantly checking out results to see where they stand. I also don’t believe that the “best” results are always on the first or second page. That to me is the main reason I wouldn’t use swagbucks (putting aside the “first 20 searches in a day” since you said you don’t use that anymore)
The mixed sponsored results are not a huge huge deal IF we were able to see more than four pages of results. Since we are limited to only four pages, the sponsored results take up some of the space that legitimate results would normally be in.
Now that you’ve stated that your method for detecting gaming has changed from the 20 searches a day I will definitely give swagbucks a shot. Working in web development and blogging as a hobby I spend insane hours in front of the computer any searching I do would be relevant to what I am doing. Previously if only the first 20 searches were counted towards possible wins then Id see no reason to surf past 20 searches in any given day.
I guess now that the gaming issue has been addressed (I was only reviewing/writing based on the information available on your site) my only main concern is the limited amount of results. I also won’t let this issue go without a follow-up post after I’ve been using it for a brief amount of time.
Hi Dan,
It is my pleasure (not to mention professional responsibility
to join in this conversation. Your objections and observations are all well-taken. We strive to create a search engine that’s relevant and engaging, while also rewarding. Sometimes we miss the mark, but that is often due to factors that are beyond our direct control. That said, I encourage you to contact me in the future with any thoughts, and suggestions: constructive criticism is always appreciated!
Cheers,
Ron
Hey, i recently found swagbucks also. It is a great site and enjoy it very much. I am currently saving up for the silver ps3. I have told many people about the site and have roughly 40 referals. (but only about 7-10 actually use it)anyways i have two questions…. 1) Is the shipping on all items free? because i remember reading that for the Wii sweepstakes you have to pay shipping but what about redeeming normal gifts. 2) how in the world can you afford to maintain this site. How do you actually make money? It makes no sense to me, Is it just advertising? Well whatever it is you guys are doing a great job. Keep it up.
you do know that you have to pay shipping for physical gifts right? They only e-mail you codes for gift cards.
paying for shipping may not be that bad. I havent quite decided what I will use my points for yet whether it’ll be a gift card or guitar or ps3.
but hey.. if i have to pay $75 to ship a ps3 that cost me nothing.. why not?
Don’t worry Dan - the shipping is completely free. I’ve received a number of prizes from Swagbucks and never had to pay for shipping. If you get a gift card and order from that particular retailer then yes, you’ll have to pay shipping through them, but if you order a prize from the Swag Store then it will be shipped to you for free - regardless of what the item is.
And just a little search tip for new users - USE THE FRIEND REFERRAL!! It is a great way to pad your swag bucks account because you can get up to 100 free swag bucks for each friend you refer. Happy Searching!
Hi John, thanks for clearing that up.. Even if I had to pay shipping it wouldn’t be an issue but knowing the shipping is only for items from 3rd party sites via gift cards is a bonus.
Don’t forget to check out the updated post. I no longer have these negative feelings towards swagbucks and have written a follow-up post at http://serial-box.net/2008/10/03/use-swagbucks-search-engine-to-replace-google-and-earn/
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