AGLOCO – First Impressions

Over the last few weeks I’ve been getting more and emails from people askine me for my opinion on AGLOCO (refferral link).

To be perfectly honest the first few times I heard about it I didn’t think much.

The second few times I thought it was some sort of pyramid scheme or spyware scam.

But in the last week or so a few people that I respect have started recommending I check it out as a potential way to earn an extra income stream online. Most of them told me about it with a few reservations (there’s a lot of hype about it out there too) but told me that they thought it was something that could have potential as an income earner for bloggers.

So today I signed up to check it out for myself. I’m still a little perplexed about it and feeling my way with it so take this as a very initial first impression review (it’s hard to do anything else at this stage as it’s in such early days).

Agloco isn’t the easiest concept in the world to explain (I’ll let you get all the ins and outs at their site) however from what I’ve gathered so far it brings together a variety of online activities:

• social networking
• referral program
• online shopping
• toolbars
• Software downloading

Here’s a diagram that they use to attempt to explain it (click to enlarge):

My first impressions:

I still have some questions about Agloco – but am quietly interested about it’s potential:

• My concerns over spyware via their ‘Viewbar’ should probably be alleviated by their explanations and assurances that it’s not – but without actually having access to it (it’s in beta) I’m not sure

• I guess the ‘beta/pre launch’ nature of it leave me with a variety of questions. At the moment it just seems to be a lot of promises. Don’t get me wrong – the promises seem great and I like a lot of what I see – but I’m the kind of guy who likes to see a product before getting too excited.

• I think the basic concept is pretty interesting and I can see why a lot of key web types are getting behind it. I can also see why there is a lot of hype by internet marketers about it.

I’ve talked to a number of others about it today and the reviews are mixed. Some still think it’s a pyramid scheme (although others who used to think this are being won over by the caliber of the names behind it) – but others are reserving judgement but are quietly experimenting with it and watching on too.

I’m going to withhold my judgement on AGLOCO until I see more of what it is and how it develops – but I think it’s an interesting concept that is worth keeping an eye on and that it’s one of those things that would probably be worth getting in on early if you’re going to benefit from the referrals system – something bloggers are ideally situated to do.

I would invite your reflections upon AGLOCO – particularly if you’re a member. What do you think about it?

update: Robert Scoble has a good interview with AGLOCO’s founders here.