With elections for the European Parliament (and some local elections) taking place, plenty of reports in the media have focused on whether the gap between different political parties has widened or narrowed and what the priorities of voters are.

Who gets surveyed to compile these figures? Well if you look in the corner of the TV screen or the newspaper graphic you will often find a significant number are conducted by ‘YouGov’. And YouGov will pay you to participate.

With the Scottish independence referendum rapidly approaching and the countdown to the next UK General Election well underway, now is a great time to get started. Or if you have an opinion on airport expansion, etc.

Who are YouGov?

Founded in 2000 they leaders in online market research and polling. Clients range from from government departments to newspapers, the BBC, academic institutions, and commercial companies. It includes the topics of the day you already know about and those you might not – who has a new product to launch or those with a re-branding exercise under consideration.

How much do you earn taking part? 

Generally 50p or £1 per short survey, some pay a bit more, some a bit less. They vary in length, and occasionally they may invite you to take part in scheduled longer (and higher paid) sessions.

I earn £50 – which is the payout level for bank transfer – about every 9 months – just from doing the normal surveys.

Is it a good use of your time?

Well if you want your voice to be heard on issues and to help influence opinion, yes without a doubt.

However, even if you are not interested in current affairs, keep in mind that a big percentage of their customers are businesses, and their surveys are highly targeted based on what YouGov know about you and what your interests are, so you can largely skip politics if it is not for you.

It is best to always be yourself in answers, this avoids you getting surveys about topics that don’t interest you – and it can also result in you getting surveys about topics that are very interesting to you (as they build a better model of you over time).

What topics are the surveys about?

They are about everything and anything, and surveys may suddenly change topic part way through (to ask you a question that was clearly commissioned by a different client).

Due to targeting, I have on various occasions seen into what companies that I am a customer of (or their competitors) may be considering doing!

• Transport (company proposed re-brandings, changes to product offerings, etc)
• Loyal schemes (promotion ideas that are under consideration)
• Credit cards (proposed signup offers)
• Travel industry (brand impressions – which airlines you like, which hotel chains, which booking sites)
• Proposed expansion of UK airports
• …

Although topics like the above do not appear constantly, someone needs to be commissioning the research at the time.

There are also regular surveys that are more general and ask the same questions every month or quarter. Conducted by YouGov to gauge trends and changes, they ask if you are you feeling positive or negative about life, the economy, the country, etc or if you have noticed any interesting adverts recently. This data they then can then model and sell to various clients who are looking for ongoing data to study UK public opinion.

How often do they turn up?

It varies and depends to some extent upon how often you complete them. Also very important is the market demand for polling – so right now quite frequently!

On average I’d say it varies between receiving up to 2-3 a week, or 2-3 a month. You do NOT need to take part in them if you are too busy, just ignore them and try them later if you have time, drifting in and out of active participation with your available time.

How do I signup:

On their website, it is free – I would be grateful if you used my ‘refer-a-friend‘ link.

https://yougov.co.uk/refer/QnHBy1eswTbYTUh3SMmgSQ/

Important Note:

• When you complete each survey you will be asked whether you want to take the points from that survey as points, or use them as entries into a monthly price draw. I take the points – as these are what convert into confirmed cash.
• Some surveys are only eligible for prize draw entry – but they will tell you this before you start them. Up to you whether you want to do these to get prize draw entries.
• Their website also has various other discussion forums and interactive polls – but you do NOT get paid for these, only for the specific polls they invite you to take part in. They send an email to alert you.

YouGov in other markets:

While I’m not familiar with details of the models that they operate and whether they are paying people to take part, YouGov do have operations for France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, China, USA & Canada, Chile, Middle East & North Africa.