FreePay Process
See: Viral Marketing
In order to receive the advertised "free gift" at each of Gratis' websites, a visitor is required to register and complete one affiliate offer. Affiliates include AOL, Blockbuster, RealNetworks, casino and credit card offers, and others. The affiliate offers typically consist of trial memberships, service subscriptions, credit card applications and the like; some require credit cards during registration, and a few involve payment of some kind, causing critics to claim the "free" label a misnomer.
The visitor is then required to refer a set number of people, which varies by the product (the number required is usually the MSRP of the gift divided by US $50). A valid referral is one which has both completed registration via a referral link and signed up for an affiliate offer. Each referral must be a unique user or the account will be "put on hold" during the approval process. Because sponsors must acknowledge the completion of their offer, they are willing to invest more for each referral than they might for other, more traditional forms of advertising.
The advertisers pay Gratis for the referral, between $25 and $90, though the company has not released information as to specific numbers. For example: assuming the MSRP of an iPod is $250, five affiliate signups (the number needed for one user to redeem a free iPod) nets Gratis between $150 and $540. Per the program's terms, Gratis does not need to deliver an iPod to any member with four or fewer referrals.
Since Gratis Internet was created similar companies have been created offering similar incentives for completed offers. Gratis Internet and its initial service, FreeCondoms.com are credited with creating the incentive marketing industry.
Read more about this topic: Free I Pod
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