How to Make an Extra $300 a Year Searching the Internet
Google may have become synonymous with “search,” but it’s not the only name in this game.
If you’re feeling reluctant to look elsewhere, alternative search engines have a pretty convincing argument for branching out: They’ll pay you to search.
I’m all about making money for something I’m already doing for free. Earn up to $300 per year in gift cards to your favorite retailers — or even cold, hard cash — by making the switch to one of these three search tools.
1. InboxDollars
Earn: up to $0.15 per day
InboxDollars is different from the other two options because they pay out in cash. Instead of earnings points you redeem for gift cards, you get real money.
InboxDollars offers cash rewards for a variety of tasks, including online searches through their proprietary search engine.
Earn $0.01 for each of your first five qualified searches and $0.01 for every two after that. You can earn up to 15 cents per day through the InboxDollars search engine.
2. Swagbucks
Earn: 25-50 SBs (about $0.25-$0.50) per day
Use Swagbucks as your default search engine (powered by Yahoo!), and earn SBs which can be cashed in for Paypal or gift cards. It’s free to sign up and you’ll get a $5 bonus when you make your first search.
One SB is equal to about $0.01 USD, so every 100 SBs is about $1. Also keep an eye out for bonuses that earn you extra SBs and their Rewards page, which sometimes lets you get larger gift cards for fewer SBs.
Once you’re signed up, you can also earn Swag Bucks for online shopping, watching videos and using coupons.
3. Microsoft Rewards
Earn: up to 25 credits (about $0.25) per day
Maximize your rewards by signing up with Microsoft Rewards.
With Microsoft Rewards, you’ll start out at Member status and work your way up to Silver and Gold. Earning Silver status is pretty easy: Complete a couple of intro tasks and earn 200 search credits. For achieving Silver status, you’ll earn 50 bonus credits.
At Gold status, you get a 10% discount when you cash in credits for rewards. That means you’ll get a larger gift card for fewer credits. To achieve Gold status, you have to redeem credits for rewards, complete 150 qualifying searches per month and earn 750 lifetime credits.
You’re already searching online — why not start getting paid for it? It might not make you a millionaire, but hey, it’s free money!
Your Turn: Have you used any of these services to earn rewards for searching? Will you make the switch from your current search engine?
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We would have shared them with you anyway, but a true “penny hoarder” would be a fool not to take the company’s money. 🙂
