Before I get into this subject I need to convey the number one rule about "paid to click" sites that pay you money for viewing ads and completing tasks. That is, these kinds of websites are set up to generate money for their website owner(s), NOT for their members. They use every trick in the book to get members to give back most of the money they earn and leave them just enough to keep their hopes up for earning a profit in the future (a good subject for a future post). This is especially true for sites that rent referrals. It is a game you must learn to play if you want to stay in it. Beyond that, most of these sites just don't have good business plans and within a few months they will be out of business. Even if you research a website before joining and it looks like a good one, there is still a very good chance that site won't last. Below are some things to look out for that indicate things are not boding well for your PTC website.
Downtime - Every website needs to do maintenance and it is usually taken down for a few minutes to do so. A good webmaster will warn it's members when this is going to happen. If the site goes down for hours or even days at a time it is a good indicator that it is in trouble. These sites use many servers and sometimes the site is taken down on a few of them while keeping it running on others. If you are unfortunate enough to be connected to the wrong server you are out of luck for that time period. When you do get connected again and contact support they will make excuses (or deny that the site was down) and give you a list of things to try on your computer so that hopefully you will get the problem solved. This is just a ploy and a waste of your time. Don't fall for it. Remember, if the site is down you don't earn from viewing ads, doing tasks or from referrals. Thus, the less they have to pay you.
Payment Delays - This is almost always blamed on a script error or even an error on your part. These sites have even been known to delete your payment processor ID and then tell you to update it before you can be paid. Then they will make you wait 48 or more hours as another delay tactic. Always make sure that your payment processor ID is correct. If it isn't, they are not responsible and your money will disappear into cyberspace never to be seen again.
Your referrals are not clicking or their habits have changed - This is a common tactic that occurs on a regular basis for almost all sites that rent referrals. Now, I maintain that people generally don't change their habits on a wholesale basis. Let's say that you have 30 referrals and they are clicking on ads everyday at a certain rate. Then, all of a sudden one day they don't click at all or their clicks are drastically reduced. Clicking variations do happen, but this just does not make sense. There are at least two occasions when this happens. First is when a website does not want to give you earnings for a particular day. Obviously, they are not making payment obligations to their members and need to slow down earnings. Second, is when a member is making too much money and again they need to slow them down. In this case, it usually happens when a member upgrades. For instance, when a member upgrades they usually get double earnings from their referrals. So if a member is at break even as a free member, they might figure that as an upgraded member they will be making a nice profit. Then when they upgrade, they find that their referrals are not clicking as much and now they are at break even or less once again. In fact, a PTC site that uses this tactic can stay up and running for a long time (even years).
Not getting credited for tasks completed - This happens far too often and when you complain, support will give you some kind of lip service. They will claim to have no control over the situation and tell you to contact their partner site (the site that provided that task and is responsible for paying for it when completed) for a solution. This is hogwash as good webmaster will work with their partners to make sure all is running well.
Other things can occur, but the above should be enough of an indication for you to put your valuable time elsewhere. If you suspect even the slightest changes, go to the forum (if there is one) and check to see if other people are having the same problems that you are. But, beware because forum moderators often delete or lock posts that want to discuss problems with their website.
