Paid Beta Testing

The paid beta tester scam is one of the newer scams to hit the net in the last few years. A paid beta is when a company like Microsoft or Intel pays people to pre-test (beta) their new products that are coming out. Sounds pretty cool huh?

It sounds great but it is a total scam. The idea for paid betas took off about two years ago when there was a large mailing sent out telling people that Bill Gates was looking for people to beta test the new version of windows. Not only was he looking for people but he was willing to pay them as well.

Was Gates really willing to do this? Of course not. It was just a trick that someone had set up and mailed out to people. Although the pranksters didn't ask for any money, thousands of people were e-mailing the mail that described the opportunity to friends and even more people were contacting Microsoft asking how they could sign up.

Some of the newer people playing this prank are trying to make a buck. They are asking for $19.95 fees or more. The newest companies that are under fire are AOL and Intel.

The real point is that while these companies no doubt pay for market research, they do not pay for beta testing. They don't have to. They have thousands of people who are dying to try their products before they are released and would happily beta test for free.

Paid betas don't exist because people want the biggest and the best first.

Matt Gagnon