NPD Research

If you're a sucker for online sweepstakes, than NPD Online Research is the place for you. Signing up for this site is easy and free. As a matter of fact, if you choose to join the online survey world, you will probably end up signing up for it anyway. Just about every online survey portal provides your information to this company.

The surveys are easy. And in between taking each survey, you can rest assured that you'll be automatically directed to a website for one of the following:

Online education
Health Insurance
Diabetes Care

Ever since I unwittingly signed up for NPD Online Research, I have received at least 20 calls from people trying to sell me either an online education or health insurance. I never have to worry about getting lonely; the phone is always ringing.

The good news about this site is that the questions that they ask you are easy. So easy that a five year old can answer them. But NPD isn't really interested in your answers. They are interested in obtaining as much information about you so they can sell you the following:

Online education
Health Insurance
Diabetes Care

Occasionally, they will surprise you with a chance to "earn" a free issue of "Taste of Home" Magazine. With the promise of a subscription. Don't worry about giving them your credit card information; they already have your phone number and if you check the "yes" box without reading carefully, they will charge the subscription directly to your phone bill.

In exchange for sharing personal information with this company and fending off telemarketers, participants have the advantage of being entered into their monthly "sweepstakes" drawing. For $1,000.

Ever since I mistakenly signed up for this site, my inbox has been flooded with spam. I have contacted the company several times, via e-mail, and asked them to take me off their list. I have not yet received a reply. It doesn't matter, however, because most of the mail they send me goes directly into my "bulk" mail. And I empty that regularly without ever looking. While I used to get about 20 pieces of "bulk" mail a day (mostly porn - even though I swear that I never went on any porn sites), I now get at least 200 pieces of "bulk" mail a day. All thanks to NPD.

Online surveys can be fun and can earn the participant a few dollars. I've researched many of them and found that NPD is not one of them. They take your information and offer you absolutely nothing in return. Unless, of course, you believe that you have the chance of winning the "sweepstakes" prize.

The worst thing about NPD is that it encourages young people to join their "panel." The site is open to anyone over the age of 13, but adds a disclaimer that they "do not KNOWINGLY collect information from persons younger than 13." In English, this means that just about any kid with access to a computer can click on to this site and participate under the guise of entering "sweepland," which is the name given for the sweepstakes that you can win once you've given them every bit of information about yourself besides your blood type.

My sense of humor has made it possible to laugh at NPD. I particularly like their non-committal answer to whether people can actually earn cash for participating in their surveys. This is a simple, direct question that requires a "yes" or "no" answer. Their answer? Sometimes you might be able to earn cash.

If you are thinking about participating in online surveys for cash, please do yourself and your family a favor and stay away from this site. Unless, of course, you wish to receive incessant phone calls and e-mails about:

Online education
Health Insurance
Diabetes Care

If you have unwittingly joined this website by accident, keep a close eye on your telephone bill in case they have decided to send you a "complimentary" magazine subscription.