Reply from Opinions 4 GoodMar 19, 2020
Good morning Bridget,
Thanks for reaching out.
I've looked into your account details and you are consistently getting flagged for fraudulent behavior by our third-party security technology partner. This system is used by other major survey companies and calibrated so as to eject users who match certain criteria (based on your browser/device data that is anonymously submitted to us). Users who frequent other survey websites are at additional risk for being ejected from surveys because the data collates across platforms (if you are a frequent survey taker, as you've indicated, you get a "reputation score" that carries to whomever uses the same anti-fraud technology). The error page indicates that you've tripped that particular alarm. I've also noticed that you have consistently spent too long on the ReCaptcha page (the one where you verify your humanity by selecting images). If you take over a minute to complete the verification, you'll be redirected to the error page. We would advise that you only enter into surveys when they can demand your full attention. Finally, there was an instance where your IP (think of it as your "digital address") changed upon accessing a survey. This typically indicates the use of a VPN (virtual private network) that some fraudsters utilize to mask their true location. For instance, we only allow users from select countries to participate. We routinely have to weed out panelists who try to work around this condition. This is against our terms and conditions: https://opinions4good.com/terms-and-conditions/.
We try to be very lenient as some people use VPNs for legitimate reasons. Given that we don't have complete control over our technology partner's parameters (they collect dozens of data points every time you click on a survey), we cannot without further investigation determine exactly why you are experiencing the errors.
In terms of "not being credited," completed surveys can take 2-4 weeks to review by our clients, depending on length of interview. We manually credit survey takers for their efforts based on whether or not their data is accepted by the client. Speeders, people who don't answer honestly or thoroughly, and "professional survey takers" who use means to bypass security are all typically rejected upon review. We are implementing an update to assign a status to each survey attempt ("pending review," "accepted," "rejected," et cetera) in the near future. Opinions4Good *does not* get compensated for completed survey responses that are rejected by our client. This is the nature of online quantitative research. We try to give our clients only the best data. And, to that end, we have anti-fraud measures in place, both internally and through our technology partner.
We *always* try to work with panelists when they have an issue. If you continue to have issues, feel free to contact me directly at [email protected]. We understand that not knowing why you are unable to take surveys is frustrating. However, we pay out thousands upon thousands of panelists a year. We also encourage our panelists to donate to nonprofits through our platform (you can assign a portion of your earnings to a nonprofit of your choice through your dashboard). To date, we've raised nearly $500,000.
Thanks for your patience and have a lovely day! I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Ryan B. | Membership Communications Specialist | Opinions4Good
