Joe Peters

You may have come across web sites that advertise free items such as iPods, iPhones and flat screen TV’s. Like myself you’ve probably ignored these sites and not given them a second thought. The internet is open to anyone who wants to use it; this inevitably leads to scams and illegal activity widespread throughout. We hear stories of people being ripped off all the time, so being cautious when it comes to the internet is second nature to most of us. I recently discovered a documentary about the free iPod giveaway on BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ program. I was interested to find out that they thought the free iPod web sites were not a scam but a new type of advertising. This got me interested, so I thought I’d do a bit of investigating for myself. Searching internet forums, I found plenty of evidence that people were getting their iPods. One forum in particular revealed much enthusiasm towards many of the free giveaway sites. After much research I came up with a list of ‘free giveaway’ sites recommended by the forum users. One such site ‘freebiejeebies.co.uk’ seemed to be very open with how they were able to give away these highly sought after items. This gave me confidence; most of the web site scam sites I’ve encountered don’t even tell you how you can take advantage of the amazing offer until you’ve parted with your hard earned cash. The way these sites work now makes perfect sense, because of the social networking revolution that has become so wide spread on the internet, word of mouth has gone to a new level. With sites such as facebook and twitter people are not only talking to a small group of local friends or work colleagues, they are socializing with people all over the world. By giving people something to tell their friends about which benefits all, word quickly spreads about something you are promoting. Let’s face it, if you where employing a professional advertising company to promote your product you would expect to pay them. So offering free gifts to the general public to spread the word about a special offer is the advertiser’s way of paying for advertising. The good news for us is that this form of advertising works. So If you fancy earning a free gift for telling your friends about a site, do some research, find a recommended ‘free gift’ web site and see if you can earn something you’ve always wanted. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t try it out for myself, so I did. I set my sites on something a bit more extravagant than an iPod. Being my son’s birthday in one month I thought I’d try for a Playstation 3 from Free Playstation .net. A Playstation in a month was being a bit optimistic, but I did get my Playstation even though it was six weeks late for my son’s birthday! My conclusion to the ‘free gift’ phenomenon is that although you’re not getting a free gift handed to you on a plate, ‘free’ in the terms of ‘no money’ paid is certainly true. In essence you’re being paid for your services.