I wrote for the Examiner and yes it is a scam. Don't believe the "it's a great company" bull as those reports are obviously written by PR people at the Examiner. Here is the true story:
At first they pay you a penny per click, but you have to promote your articles as they won't generate traffic for you. I started by writing two columns for them and promoted my articles like crazy. Most of my articles generated between .60 cents and $1.50 each, and they were always in the top articles on the site so that is GOOD pay.
They recently reformatted their pay structure to reflect other factors, so it is no longer anywhere near a penny. This is an actual correspondence from them when I asked why my pay decreased to about .05 cents per hit (I was tracking my hits but they didn't know it)
The change you are noticing now is associated with one of those metrics, most notably session length, or the number of your articles a visitor reads in one visit. We have increased the relevance of session length into our payment structure, as it holds great value in a users experience, increasing loyalty and return visits to your page. We have created a tip sheet to provide guidance on how to increase your session length, attached here." |
This month I actually made about $100 by writing frantically for 3 different topics, and I just received this email notice the day AFTER I informed them my hits were being counted by a script I had written and that I knew they were withholding pay from me:
From: "Keller, Jay" <
[email protected]>
Date: June 25, 2010 2:19:25 PM CDT
To: "
Subject: Your Examiner.com account
xxxxx,
Please be advised that your access to all Examiner.com tools has been suspended pending investigation of your traffic sources. You will be contacted soon regarding resolution of this matter.
Thank you,
Jay
Jay Keller | Category Director, News & Info
office: 303.291.8832
fax: 303.291.8855
e-mail: [email protected]
They refused to explain what this was about??? So now I am not making a cent from this rip off a-holes. DO NOT WORK FOR THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!