YouGov Review: Earn Free Cash Taking Online Surveys

Written by Jason Michaels Last Updated: May 8, 2024

A great number of market research companies offer rewards for consumer’s opinions, reviews, and product testing. Although not all these companies are legit, there are some that offer genuine rewards.

This post will give an in-depth review of YouGov  – a company that offers rewards for completing surveys.

This review will discuss What YouGov is, how it works, registration procedure and more. This will help you get a better understanding of this survey site so that you can ultimately decide if it is worth your time or not.

With that said, let’s jump straight right into our YouGov review.

• Direct Link to YouGov

What is YouGov?

YouGov is a market research company that offers members reward for completing surveys on their website. The company provides opinions about market, banking, products, current economy, IT, automotive business and a lot more.

YouGov was founded in the UK but is present in several other locations including North America, Asia pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The website is for people who wish to express their thoughts about debatable topics, current events, social attitudes and consumption habits.

The survey is continuously created on the website, data is supplied by members and they use the information collected to promote the use of their poll by governments, institutions, and companies.

YouGov aims to gather data globally from people of diverse social, economic and political backgrounds. The basic idea is that the more diverse the participants are, the more representative and valuable the resulting data will be.

YouGov provides data to researchers from different fields and at the same time reward members for their participation.

This website provides polls and surveys of varying length with different subject matter. Although the surveys have varying lengths, it takes about half an hour to complete the longest survey.

The company recognizes that privacy invasion is one of the reasons why people do not participate in surveys and as such YouGov has a very strict privacy policy to ensure that your personal information remains confidential.

You do not have to worry about your responses been tied to the data when it is supplied to the company or institution that wishes to utilize it.

You earn points for taking part in different surveys and polls. These points are accumulated and can be redeemed. Points can also be exchanged for pre-paid gift cards that can be used at a number of retailers like iTunes, Amazon, Walmart, and more.

Furthermore, the points can be exchanged for a pre-paid Visa gift card, which can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted as a form of payment.

Signing Up to Participate

The minimum age requirement for participation in most countries is 18 year and above. In the UK the minimum age is 16 while in the US, the minimum age is 14 years. To participate you have to be residence in one of the countries of operation.

You can sign up on YouGov if you live in the countries listed below: UK, US, Norway, Mexico, Denmark, Brazil, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, France, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Japan, and China. The registration process on YouGov is pretty straightforward:

• Sign up for the site.
• Confirm your email.
• Get started right away with your first survey to create a basic profile.
• Take full-length surveys to earn points.
• Redeem points for branded products, gift cards, items, etc.

You sign up by creating an account using a registered email and a password. You can also choose to sign up via Facebook. After filling in the necessary details, a confirmation link will be sent to your email. Click on the link to validate your registration.

The signup process is completely free. After signing up you have two options. You can either start with a survey which will ask for some personal information to set up your profile. And the other option is to proceed to the website directly to figure out the navigation.

The first survey is usually personal and includes questions like your gender, race, and date of birth. The survey will also help to identify studies that you will more appealing and relevant to you. You will get updates on new surveys directly in your email.

Apart from earning points for completing surveys, you also stand a chance of entering the draw to win fabulous prices. Although it is easy to sign up and get started on YouGov, it can actually take a while to rack up points to redeem any rewards that you might be interested in. Patience is key.

How Does YouGov Work?

Right after signing up with a verified email account, you will create a profile.  As mentioned earlier, the profile gives a hint about the types of surveys, companies, and institutions that you will be interested in. Once your email is verified you will be known as a “YouGov Panelist”.

That means you can start taking surveys. Typically a survey last between 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the number of questions. The findings for each survey is posted on the website for interested respondent once polling is complete.

Once the survey has been completed and reviewed, you will earn redeemable points. You can access the number of points you’ve earned by visiting the Activity page of your account.  Once approved the points are posted immediately.

YouGov has quite a number of interesting content and surveys that are generally not completely controversial. Generally, the questions are clear and usually neutral.

Surveys are published into a statistical article once completed. If you’re one of the respondents for a particular survey, a notification pops up on your dashboard “You made the news!” You can then open up the article to find out what other respondents had to say on the topic.

Rewards and Surveys

Just like any other survey site, YouGov rewards participants in their surveys. Generally, you will wait until you get a notification for a survey, take it and then redeem your point once the survey is completed.

The number of days you have to wait to get a survey varies, generally panelist in the UK, USA, and AUSTRALIA get the most surveys because of the demographics. Every survey completed earns you points that can be accumulated and redeemed for rewards.

Take a look at what the points system looks like. You earn points for completing full-length surveys and the rewards usually vary based on the length and type of survey. Each reward has a different point cost. For instance, a $15 Amazon gift card costs 35,000 points on YouGov.

Of course, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how long it will take you to accumulate 35k points till you start taking the surveys yourself. However, it is important to state that your initial profile survey will give you 2,000 points straight away.

Then you can start taking more surveys that will help you earn points.  Keep in mind that this is not a quick rich scheme, but something you can do in your spare time to earn some extra cash without any form of financial investment.

Referrals

People have always wanted to know if there are other ways to earn points while waiting to receive survey notification. Sadly, there is no other way to directly earn points from YouGov. However, there is a referral program. The referral program is direct and easy.

All you need to do is refer friends on social media or send them a specific link to direct them to YouGov. So if you have friends that may be interested in taking surveys, you can send them a referral link.

Once they sign up and take at least three surveys (excluding the first survey) you’ll earn 4000 points and your friend will earn an extra 2,000 points. These rewards are generally gift cards, but it can also include items such as posters and t-shirts.

Getting the rewards will take a while as there’s not a steady stream of surveys.  As an experienced affiliate marketer, you can also apply for YouGov’s affiliate program where you can earn an average of $3 per lead.

How Much Time Do You Have To Spend To Make Money On YouGov?

Compared to other paid survey sites, the reward plan on YouGov is decent especially in terms of the amount of time you spent on the surveys and the rewards. Moreover, participation is simple and quick.

Furthermore, you can see both the reward and estimated time it will take to complete a survey and then decide whether or not you want to participate in the survey.

The truth is that you will not make a million bucks from taking surveys on YouGov which is the case for any survey site. But YouGov has several opportunities, it is easy to use, has several interesting topics, and you get rewarded for your time.

How Does YouGov Pay?

YouGov does pay. The points earned will be exchanged for different types of rewards. The reward you get depends on your country of residence.

In some countries, points can only be exchanged into products or gifts cards while in some other countries, you will get paid in cash through prepaid visa cards or PayPal.

Interestingly, in some countries, YouGov has their own lottery and you can use earned points in exchange for a chance to participate in the lottery. You have the opportunity to win big prizes in the draw, however, it is important to note that the chances that you will win are actually slim.

So you may just opt to use your point for something that you know you will get. Once you complete a survey, you will be directed to YouGov’s website, where you will see the point you’ve just earned and everything you have in total.

Generally, the reward options on YouGov are decent. You will need to accumulate 35,000 points to initiate a withdrawal — this is equal to $25, i.e. $1 is the equivalent of 1,400 points. Some of the rewards depending on the country include the following:

• Cash by deposit to your PayPal account or Prepaid cards
• Gift cards to your favorite restaurants and stores
• Charity donation
• Mobile credits
• Movie Vouchers
• iTunes Gift Cards
• Sweepstakes Entries
• Prepaid VISA Cards
• Walmart Gift

Once you have accumulated enough points and are ready to redeem your points, go to the website and click on ‘Rewards’ tab. This will display the rewards you are qualified for. It is not possible to redeem a reward worth more than the points you have accumulated.

Though you can select a reward worth less than the value of your points and keep your unused points saved in your account for future withdrawal. The main idea is that you should opt for rewards that are either equal to or lesser to the value of your points.

If you choose gift cards, physical commodity or YouGov branded merchandise, then you should expect to wait for your rewards for about one month because prizes are delivered by U.S. mail.

Pros of YouGov:

• Signing up is free and relatively easy. You gain points for simply signing up.
• The surveys are relatively short taking about 7-12 minutes on the average and they are generally very interesting and varied including political, social and pop issues.
• The reward system is actually very decent compared to other survey websites.
• In addition to getting points after completing surveys, there are other ways to make money with YouGov.
• The affiliate and referral programs are attractive.
• The privacy policy on YouGov is strictly adhered to and is readily available to its members.
• There’s a flexibility that allows you to either choose to redeem points or cash or points. Moreover there no processing fees for redeeming Gift cards and you can earn cash via
• PayPal, gift cards to iTunes, Amazon, and more
• YouGov is optimized for mobile devices

Cons of YouGov:

• The site has recently lost its accreditation by BBB because of the series of complaint from members about payout.
• It takes a while to rack up points and if you don’t refer enough people then it will be difficult to boost your earning on YouGov.
• Surveys are usually targeted geographically and at the same time linked with the information you provided on your profile. At times, a respondent may be disqualified right in the middle of the survey if your geographical location is not fit for that survey.
• The minimum point for withdrawal is super high and is one of the highest across different paid online survey sites.

Survey Website Similar to YouGov

There are several other sites that offer paid survey just like YouGov. Feel free to check some out:

• Survey Junkie – This site offers you an opportunity to make $5-$25 taking online surveys right from your home. You can also participate in testing new products and join Focus Groups.
• MySurvey – This is also a very popular survey site that allows you to take surveys anytime via laptop, PCs, Cell Phone, Tablet, or Mobile App.
• SwagBucks – Just like other survey sites, SwagBucks offer members the opportunity to take surveys, watch videos, shop and do a lot more.
• InboxDollars – Just like SwagBucks, you can take surveys, watch videos and shop on this site. And it claimed to have paid members an estimated $40 Million.
• Vindale Research – You get a $2 sign-up bonus and it’s estimated you can earn at a rate of around $10 per hour.

Should You Sign-up With YouGov?

The fact is doing online surveys will not make you rich, you can’t simply rely on this for income. However, YouGov offers you an avenue to earn extra cash in your spare time. It’s a legitimate website and you can also benefit from their affiliate and referral programs.

YouGov is marketed as space for individuals to express their opinions on varying important topics and people who want to impact the society that voicing out their views with the added bonus of receiving some rewards for doing so. If this fits your description, we recommend that you sign up.

However, YouGov may not be your best option if you are on the hunt for a paid survey website where you can easily get rewards.

The high exchange rate of redeeming reward from points and the irregular availability of paid surveys on the website does not make them a sustainable option for the avid, paid survey hunter.

Thanks for reading our full YouGov review. If you have anything to add or any questions about this survey site, feel free to let us know down below. Happy frugaling!