WE all spend hours online everyday, whether it’s for work, shopping or chatting with friends – but now you can also get paid for surfing the internet.
Web browser Gener8 is one of the newest tools which allows you do just that.
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It was given the thumbs up on Dragon’s Den with Peter Jones, Touker Suleyman and Tej Lalvan investing, along with Harry Redknapp and Tinie Tempah.
I put it to the test to see how much I could earn just by swapping my normal browser Google Chrome for Gener8.
When you sign up, you can either pick to earn rewards or to browse privately.
You can also choose what kind of advertising you want to see, for example, fashion, food and drinks, tech and sports.
At first the majority of adverts I saw were pictures of dogs promoting Gener8.
You do have to hand over some personal information. Your email, gender, profession, year of birth and whether you’ve used an adblocker before.
Unfortunately, it only works on desktop and laptop computers – it’s not on mobile phones yet.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU EARN?
Using the browser everyday at work I built up just over 150 points after 30 days of using it.
The number of points you earn obviously depends on how much time you spend online.
How these points are calculated is not made clear by Gener8 but you can see your running total every time you open a tab
Once I’d built up these points I checked back in on the Gener8 websites market to see what I could swap them for.
Rewards vary and they are not always available at the time you look.
When I looked to redeem my points there were several types including, charity donations, Gener8 merchandise like stickers, but more importantly, there are money-saving offers, vouchers and even products.
I landed a £5 Argos voucher in exchange for 50 points. You can only redeem one voucher every seven days.
So I set a reminder in my calendar and redeemed two more vouchers adding up to a total of £15.
Not bad for just surfing the web.
The vouchers available varied. For example we also spotted £5 off at Sainbury’s and Amazon for 50 points each.
While there was a £15 off at Netflix for 150 points and £8 Audible voucher for 80 points.
The number of vouchers available was also limited.
POINTS MEAN PRIZES
The other rewards ranged from money off mattresses and discounts on meals boxes, and you needed between one and ten points to claim.
We noted that better value discounts were available elsewhere on the web or directly from companies though.
For example, I found a £20 voucher for Amazon when you switched your energy via uSwitch, whereas Groupon was offering £25 off at Amazon when switching via uSwitch.
But you can also, in theory, swap your points for products.
We saw that Gener8 was offering a bluetooth vinyl player worth £80 for 1,000 points. There was also an alarm clock, which usually cost £10, on offer for 350 points.
But even if I’d had enough points, I wouldn’t have been able to swap for these items.
Gener8 only offers each deal for a limited amount of time, usually indicated by a countdown clock typically lasting three, four or five days.
Crucially, though, even when the countdown ends, there is only one of each item available, meaning the majority of people will not be able bag one.
OUR VERDICT
After a month, I thought I’d built up a decent amount of points – just over 150.
But I found it frustrating that I couldn’t swap my points for more than one voucher at a time.
I don’t think I’d bother with trying to get the products as the chances of actually bagging one seem so slim and you risk being disappointed.
You need to be on the ball with checking regularly – but if you have the time and drive, then this is an easy way to get free cash.
The reviews on Trustpilot are generally good, with people saying they’ve bagged a couple of vouchers.
However, some users have complained about the limited availability and being unable to redeem points.
Overall, you’re not losing anything by using the Gener8 browser and if you can put up with the faff then it’s an easy way to earn money off shopping.
Sam Jones, Gener8’s founder, told The Sun: “A lucrative industry has been built from exploiting our data for too long. Everything we do on the internet is being tracked.
“Companies are collecting our data and selling it to the highest bidder, but we receive nothing in return.
“At Gener8 we’re working to change that and we’ve only just started. As we grow we’ll be able to ensure that people receive more for their data.”
He said the average Gener8 user earns between £5 and £25 in rewards per month, but believes this will increase as it gains more users.
The company is also working on a mobile app, which it’s looking to launch early next year.
“This is just the beginning of our journey” he added, “Gener8 helps people take back control of, and earn from, their online data”.
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