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.
I have been members of Agloco for some time now. At first I felt just like you do! I didn’t think much about it. My first thought was, this is just another “quick rich scheme”. Besides, getting referrals seems to be the most important thing in Agloco, which is a true pain in the a..!
However, it was free, so the only cost would be the time I spend on it. So I signed up. I now have a downline of 26 referrals, which it more than I had ever thought I would get. Getting referrals in Agloco seems to be easier than what I first assumed, probably because it is free. I glad to see that a person who I truly admire, finally is a member of Agloco :) Somehow it makes me feel a bit better about it.
40 reasons everybody you know should join:
http://joinagloco.blogspot.com/2007/01/long-list-of-reasons-why-you-should_27.html
i personally am very skeptical about it. it sounds like just another “paid to” money making program. if the management team found a twist to add to it (from reading the faq’s and “how it works – i didn’t find any) they might make it work.
the reason i’m not fond of such programs is because they pay based on the income they make (nothing wrong so far). the problem comes from the fact that if i join, get their viewbar and run it on my computer i am aware that all i’m seeing is ads served by them. this decreases the probability of me being interested in them (much like tv ads and in many cases, recently, adsense – i for one am never inclined to visit any adsense advertisers). it could work in the beginning and those who get in now, might make quite a nice income. in the long run, though, if they don’t manage to bring that twist (i don’t know what it could be) to make users actually click on ads and visit sites, the advertisers might not see satisfactory results which will send them away. as a result it could very easily become another program used for advertising by its own members who use their earnings to pay for the ads, making the whole system run in circles (no money coming in – no money going out).
i know there’s nothing really wrong with it in theory, however, from my experience with such programs, in practice, over time, they become unprofitable and a waste of time.
not to mention that depending on how their “viewbar” is set, it could bring a lot of cluster to your computer.
this is my opinion. i don’t think the internet has found yet an automated (this is what they sound like) efficient advertising system on which a company could base their entire activity. but then, again, this is based on the experience of a guy who never visits sponsored ads. when i’m interested in something i look for recommendations.
No offense intended, but how do you “withhold judgement” but still have an affiliate link?
Making users download something that you are not entirely sure is not spyware/malware so you can earn a little bit on money is risking more than I would be willing to. Nothing like losing readers by having them infected with something you are not sure about. But perhaps I have a higher ethical standard when it comes to making money.
He has to use an affiliate link to really try it out. Part of joining the effort is getting referrals in your downline. By offering incentives to get others to join, networks like AGLOCO can quickly get big enough to attract major advertising once the Viewbar is launched. Agloco.com is the site, and you can also click on my comment name for more info.
Well, he’s done them a great service just by mentioning it, so he obviously approves at least partly of the product why not reap the benefits of any future success you’ve started by the mention. It looks to me like the first people to get involved will be the richest users, so an affiliate link it is.
Aaron, if it actually is worth it, then at least Darren is entitled to his share as well. I don’t mind really, I’d do exactly the same.
Having said that, it all looks really like a ‘quick rich’ program where people are pushed to perform an action.
In this case I don’t think the fact that big names are getting in on it is any indication of its quality. For one, big names can be just as susceptable to getting caught up in the hype as the next person. Also, there’s a conflict of interest. They can make money from referrals, so their recommendations could be motivated as much by their own interests as anything else.
Why does this thing remind me “cashfiesta” (or whatever the name was) that you run a tool bar on your PC and refer people to join as well… the real catch is sign up the program offers … surfing is really not where they get their money from and died back few years ago? I could be wrong, but that’s what I’ve got in my mind. If it is one of those program, sure whoever gets the most referral is going to share a piece of pie… those who believes they can make money the easy way is going to be disappointed at the end. I guess everyone should use their own judgment.
Hi Darren, just signed up under your referral link.
Hi Aaron, Darren needed to sign up to really “test drive” AGLOCO. He can’t judge just by looking at it.
Robert Scoble Interviewed the founders at http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1291/blog-advertising-from-the-company-with-a-funny-name
AGLOCO is MLM. Unlimited width(direct referral) x 5 levels depth(referrals’ referrals). You can override commission limited up to 5 level deep. Depth is always limited, if not AGLOCO will go bankrupt.
Most people have a pre-conceived idea of what MLM is. I hope we can judge AGLOCO on a blank sheet of paper…neutral and open-minded.
Hi Darren. just joined under your affiliate link
Robert Scoble interviewed founders at http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1291/blog-advertising-from-the-company-with-a-funny-name
AGLOCO is MLM. Unlimited width(direct referrals) by 5 levels(referrals’ referrals) deep. Depth is always limited, if not AGLOCO will go bankrupt.
Most of us have a pre-conceived idea about MLM. Hope we can judge AGLOCO through a blank sheet of paper…neutral and open-minded.
This is the same thing as Cashfiesta, All Advantage, and all those other “surf for cash” programs. All Advantage recently made bit of a comeback, so I guess they think they can make money still.
Whew! I was perplexed as well. I saw John Chow jump on it – and I went to the site and couldn’t figure out what their business model was. When you have to wonder… you have to wonder if it will last.
My opinion is that it has NO risk and POTENTIAL reward. Why not join and see what happens? If it turns about anything like it’s predecessor AllAdvantage, it’ll pay out cash distributions as promised.
FT
http://www.milliondollarjourney.com
I agree with MDJ, what’s the worst that can happen?
While it’s free, they have no payment details of mine whatsoever etc. I don’t see what can go wrong for us.
If it all goes tits up in a few months, I haven’t lost anything. If it’s half as good as they say it’s going to be, I’ll make a few dollars to pay for my hosting & maybe more….
The worst that can happen is this – You spent hours and day promoting something that you got nothing from. Not so bad? well, what if you spent those hours and days thinking of your own business/blog and contributing to it?
Allen.H
Another thing is that the big names pretty much have to get into this. Their job is to write about making money online and report new ways to do so.
So if nothing else they have to address the subject eventually to show they’re up with the trends. They’ll want some firsthand knowledge so they’ll probably sign up. And they’ll probably try to make some money off it so they can later post about their results, and if they do make some cash, to solidify their reputation as an authority in the area.
Not to mention that you’ve now affiliated yourself with a spam site and hurt your reputation by affiliating yourself with it.
I just did a post on this the other day (I figured you’d mention this sooner or later, Darren). A “pyramid/ponzi scheme” by -definition- is predicated on paying old members with money being paid by new members. There’s no cost whatsoever to AGLOCO; hence it can’t be – by legal or any other definition – a pyramid/ponzi scheme.
It is indeed similar to AllAdvantage, as two or three of the founders were AllAdvantage founders. It’s not like “cashfiesta” or any other post-bubble paid-to-surf company, because there haven’t been any serious companies like that since the bubble popped. Realize that AllAdvantage raised $200 million in venture capital, and paid about $120 million to its members -10 million of them – before it croaked (when web advertising demand dried up due to dot-com crashage).
You also have to consider some of the big names in AGLOCO (big enough to have wikipedia entries), plus the eight or so Stanford MBA’s they have on staff, who aren’t exactly the type to risk their careers and reputations on some scam/silly company. Scoble even interviewed two of the founders a while ago.
Anyway, I’m no AGLOCO cheerleader, but I could go on. It’s an interesting concept, and I agree with Darren that we should keep our eyes on it. If you want to put the model in a nutshell: they want to leverage a social network for good advertiser deals, pay 90% of the profits to the members, and have the company be fully owned (via stock) by the members. In other words, had YouTube been owned by the members when it sold for 1.6 billion, there’d be some happy You-Tube’rs out there right now.
Check out my post on AGLOCO for more in-depth research and further reading (affiliate link-free, I might add – for now).
I’m not necessarily saying they are a spam company, although they might be, but yes – that may be included in the worst case scenario.
Allen.H
Come on guys, you will never make enough money while you are surfing the net to get a decent income.
What about all those complaining about Google getting too much private data of them? Are they now joining agloco?
If they are clever, the best way to make money of all this is not by getting money from advertisers, but sell information.
If someone makes really money from this, then it is agloco and maybe some early adopters, but I would not really want to send this to my friends and family…
The main problem with Agloco is that, in essence, it creates an incentivized click market. What does this mean?
It means that because people derive revenue directly or indirectly by clicking advertiser links the traffic sent to advertisers thru this medium will be close to worthless (meaning it won’t convert to sales).
If I tell you to come to my website and click on the ads and in exchange I’ll split the revenue with you how much value will your clicks have to my advertisers? Zero. And no value to advertisers = no long term revenue for Agloco (i.e. YOU, the Shareholder).
This is one of those services that’s balanced right on the edge of being an ethical one, to one that’s no better than the crap spyware/toolbar/traffic/etc sites that are currently flourishing out there
…what harm could it do..
What happens if/when this one does finally cross the line into the bad territory? Maybe their toolbar finally goes sour and starts installing spyware? All of those “smart” ones that are supporting it might suddenly disown it (just deny you had anything to do with it and you’ll be fine), but the damage will have been done.
At that point, we will have willingly supported one more to the list of sites that are bringing the web down with junk – and which is very detrimental, especially to those that try to make a living on the web (Those of us who actually feel that their customers are #1…and want to make sure their experiences are positive ones)
Darren: I have a video interview with AGLOCO’s management here that you might find interesting as to this topic: http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1291/blog-advertising-from-the-company-with-a-funny-name
Hi There
i still think that it spyware,even if they pay,its spyware,there are much people reffering users to it,but i don;t think they are using it on their own computer!
i didn’t hear anyone sharing his earning from this program
also there’s no place when you can check your earnings!
so we need real proof,no proof till now!
Er… that’s probably because it’s in pre-launch. >:D
It’s a money grab. That’s all there is to it. I know you Darren. I respect you. But posting this is akin to selling your soul. You might as well go join Scoble on PayPerPost too. Life isn’t all about making a buck even if Problogger is about making money with blogs.
I don’t question you personally, but I think endorsing this (and you did by an aff link) was a lapse in judgement. I’m sure we’ll talk about this offline though.
I was in AllAdvantage the last time around. Made $25,000 from it. I expect to make at least that this time around. :)
Interesting to see some of the comments here, especially otherwise well educated people advising others to “look at Multi Level Marketing (MLM) from another perspective”. Whatever perspective you use to stare at a dog turd in your hand, it’s still a dog turd and you still wish you hadn’t picked it up to begin with, and you still have to decide whose yard to throw it in to get rid of it.
This is a Ponzi scheme, or pyramid scheme,(look them up, Google is your friend) pure and simple. The early adopters … the John Chow’s of the world (how many “I Love Darren” ads did he buy)? will make money, at the beginning… but all these parlor trick wonders depend upon otherwise educated people being seriously deficient in the math department. The number of people required to join each month to support the pyramid above them soon becomes larger than the world’s population and therefore there is no one left to join and the ridiculous house of cards collapses. The definition of an open mind does not include the suspension of belief in simple math.
Sorry Darren, this is a loser from day one.
Agloco is not a pyramid scheme. Just Google it and click on the first link, which is wikipedia.
[quote form the first line]
A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, usually without any product or service being delivered.
[end quote]
Joining Agloco does not exchange any money. Once the number of people have joined and creating engough value to sustain the main Agloco business, that is all that is needed ever! Anything after that will be distributed to the members. And considering they already have 200,000 members and a lot more now that some of the top bloggers are on board (why oh why couldn’t you sign up under me :) ). They might already be at the number to sustain the main business.
Well, I think since it’s free, why not give it a shot? If it works, great, I make an extra hundred bucks a month. If not, well I lost only, what, 2 hours of my life?
I gave my opinion here:
Agloco is Stupid
No, AGLOCO is not a pyramid at all – but its business model is that of a Multi-level Marketing structure. But contrary to common belief, being MLM does not a pyramid make.
Under the law, a business opportunity or business model must meet certain criteria in or order for it to be considered a pyramid scheme.
The first criteria is that one must make an investment in order to get the right to recruit others. Since there’s no investment or join fee for AGLOCO, it cannot be a pyramid.
Will it work? Don’t know. I hope it does. My network is growing quickly now so I can only hope that it goes well. My plan is like John Chow’s – to at least hit the $25,000 mark.
Shine on,
Aaron
Dave Starr – A pyramid scheme is when the guy at the top make all the money and the guy at the bottom makes next to nothing, right? Hmm, maybe you should check where you work. Assuming you have a job of course. It’s the biggest pyramid scheme in the world. :)
[…] Now, I am a relaxed observer of the MLM phenomenon, and AGLOCO is one of the MLM’s I observe. Obviously I created an account with them, and, of course, if you feel like joining my AGLOCO referral community will be benficial for you, please do it (that’s a referral link). I will closely watch what the viewbar offers, and, by reading other bloggers posts, like Darren Rowse from problogger.net, and John Chow, from johnchow.com, it seems that the viewbar, the actual tool that you will use to create value (hours of surfing the interent), seems like an interesting product. […]
[…] Darren of Problogger.net has joined the program as well, here is a short review of the program by him. […]
I am going to throw my two cents into this debate coming more from an MLM perspective. I have been involved in MLM for the past 7 + years and have made some decent money with a product based company (health and wellness) that is 50 years old (who said that the person at the top makes all the money?).
IAs an MLM distributor I do three things: Use the products, recommend those products to those who might need them/benefit from them and sponsor new representatives/leaders who are intrigued by the income opportunity who do the same thing. The company pays the distributors on the volume being sold through multiple levels of the organization they build (typically stops at 4-7 levels deep).
MLM is different than Direct Sales. To make $10,000 in Direct Sales you have to sell at least $20,000 of product. In MLM you have a bunch of people each selling a little bit (100 people selling $200 worth of product).
Personally, I think MLM is a really cool way to make money (if done right). It is all about leverage.
Unfortunately, over the years some MLM distributors have used marketing practices that has resulted in the industry as a whole getting a bit of a bad wrap (the bait and switch on friends and family) however I think this is evolving. Kind of similar to the way Internet Marketing has evolved from the one page sales page with pop-ups (robbing millions of dollars from the pockets of the vulnerable) to using content to presell and build trust with blogs and forums etc…
MLM is becoming more mainstream today and that is a good thing as it truly is a legitimate way for someone to make money.
My opinion is that Agloco does market through MLM. They are planning on a) Agloco members using the toolbar and viewing ads b) Agloco members recommending the toolbar to others and c) Agloco members sponsoring other leaders who build deep and wide.
If anyone out there is interested in viewing a web video that works to dispel some of the myths of MLM feel free to send me an e-mail.
Chris Spurvey
http://www.mlm-journey.com
Quote: “Just Google it and click on the first link, which is wikipedia.”
The Wikipedia article has been deleted – it was spam.
Yes, the Wikipedia article was in fact spam. Wikipedia does have a page on AllAdvantage, with this brief mention of AGLOCO: “On 20 November 2006, it was reported that several AllAdvantage founders were reincarnating the business under a new company, AGLOCO.”
BTW, do not attempt to add any AGLOCO links (referral or otherwise) to the AllAdvantage page. They’ll be quickly deleted by those of us watching the pages. The AGLOCO staff itself is reviewing edits for abuse and terminating violators. Just market responsibly. :)
Lots of AGLOCO info: http://homebusinesstoday.blogspot.com/search/label/AGLOCO
Shine on,
Aaron
[…] Even with all that there are a good number of people who believe they are on the forefront of something big. And these people will be the ones most rewarded because they took the leap of faith, which is more like a step of faith considering you only have to put in what you think you will get out out of it. There are also some famous bloggers who sign-up but are not too sure, but don’t want to miss out if Agloco hits it Real Big. […]
The viewbar will be out soon in March and that will be the best time to see if AGLOCO works as well as AllAdvantage the last time around. My guess that it will be a huge success.
I’ve even created a directory of AGLOCO blogs, forum and sites at http://www.aglocodirectory.com and its growing in numbers every single day. Definitely, an internet-changing potential :)
Regards,
helmi
http://www.aglocoblog.net
AGLOCO will not make money online! Ever! And here’s why:
http://kumikosuzuki.blogspot.com/2007/02/agloco-will-not-make-money-online-ever.html
(There is no affiliate link in the above link!!)
Kumiko
xo
[…] Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net has also written about his first impressions on AGLOCO. Like Darren, I also think that it just seems to be a lot of promises but nothing concrete as to how the concept would really benefit advertisers and members in the long run. […]
I for one am giving AGLOCO a try. I was a member of All Advantage, and did get paid consistently with no problems. I didn’t have a huge downlinde, but still managed to earn at least $100 every month. May not sound like much to some, but hey, to me it’s extra money.
A lot of people are wondering what the money will be like once the Viewbar comes out. Here are two resources for those trying to find out how much money people will make.
A scenario of how the hourly pay rate works: http://joinagloco.blogspot.com/2007/02/bit-of-clarification-on-agloco-member.html
A study of how much a member’s stock will be worth: http://simmonsreport.spaces.live.com/
[…] I know my recommendation here don’t carry too much weight, because the last time I made a call, I only managed to attract 4 new sign-ups, so this time, I am going to borrow some from one of the big guns of the sphere, notably, John Chow. My hero here just surpassed his 5000th. referrals in his network. Now, do you believe me? Now, do you think I am still lying for my own good? I might lie in my blog, but certainly not John Chow or Darren Rowse. I even copied his referral table here just to prove my point. I hope more is convinced now and if indeed you are, click on the image I made myself at the bottom of this post. You know how the story goes, there is not going to be a second Noah’s Ark, so you better board now. You can read more about John’s view about Algloco in his blog. […]
[…] Darren of Problogger.net has joined the program as well, here is a short review of the program by him. […]
[…] Further Reading: Agloco Rant, Scoble Interview with Agloco, First Impressions of Agloco (problogger), Agloco will not make money online ever […]
Am I off base here but why isn’t there any discussion on how this impacts the website owner who gets paid by the advertisers he has on his/her website? Who’s clicking those ads if the toolbar shows contextual ads at the last moment. Does this sound fair to all of us who use our websites to monetize?
Someone visits your site with great content about travel to India and you hope he clicks on a Google ad about India tours. Instead, the AGLOCO toolbar pops out an ad at the last moment (it knows what ad to put up because it is contextual and can sense the page you’re visiting) and then leaves before clicking. Everyone one wins but the webmaster who put up the great content.
Sound fair to you? Here’s my post on this: http://www.ihelpyoublog.com/20070218-is-agloco-scumware-and-violating-the-law