Social Networks are a rage these days. There are social networks of all hues and colors! What counts are the numbers – the number of members in those networks. So, where does a fresh start-up social networking company go to get members? INDIA, of course!
Now, here is a social networking company – Famesource.com – that is openly paying Indians 10 cents a sign up. And there is an ad on Craiglist Bangalore as well to promote the deal! The bummer – according to their promoters – they havent got a SINGLE SIGN UP! 🙂
There is obviously a discussion on the “integrity” issue of signing up “fake” Indian members using money here at Valleywag.
Even the promoters of the site have posted their thoughts on this blog clarifying their stand and actions. What do you think?
We are not offering any monetary incentive for people to sign-up, as your article suggests. Like any Cost Per Action (CPA) offer, we are looking to work with a person and/or company that can drive US traffic to our site and we are willing to pay for every new member that registers as a result of this traffic.
This is no different than advertising on Google Adwords, Azoogle, or Hydramedia, all of which offer a CPA service. After dealing with a number of these CPA companies, we found that many of the campaigns were being managed by people in India. Since Famesource has been completely self-funded by the two of us, we made the choice to try and cut out the middleman. We want to emphasize that we are not paying any individuals (from India or anywhere else in the world) to join Famesource; we are only trying to strike a more affordable CPA deal.
The funniest part of all this is that we have not even found a qualified party to work with overseas, not even a single sign-up! We would appreciate if you could clarify these points in your title and article because it wrongfully tarnishes Famesource’s wholesome nature, which we have worked so hard to maintain.
