ShrinkEarn.com is - was - a revenue share service by way of using a shortened link. It allowed you to make money by sharing any webpages of your choice. Although the method was extremely spammy and the amount you would earn was very little, at least the setting up was easy and straightforward. Unfortunately it no longer works in the way it should. ShrinkEarn.com has become deceptive. The site is partnered with suspicious advertisers who potentially scam end-users with malware.
I wouldn't have particularly recommended it as a way of making money online, anyway. But it's a lot worse than you think. Today in my ShrinkEarn review, I'll explain why I think you should stay away from it, if you want to deceit your audience and protect your computer from security risks.
ShrinkEarn Review | ||
|---|---|---|
Product Name: | ShrinkEarn.com | |
Website URL: | shrinkearn.com | |
Type: | Internet Marketing | |
Owner: | Unknown | |
Price: | Free | |
Rating: | ||
What Is ShrinkEarn? [November 2019 Updates]
ShrinkEarn appears to be a link shortening service, using the domain "https://ckk.ai". You use it just like you use any other URL shortener such as bit.ly and goo.gl. But when a user clicks the shortened link, they'll be greeted by a couple of popup ads before they're directed to the link destination. This way, ShrinkEarn will earn commission on a PPC (pay-per-click) or PPV (pay-per-view) basis. And a fraction of the revenue will be shared with you as a ShrinkEarn user.
...That was the initial idea. But now ShrinkEarn has turned nasty. The end-users will never get to reach the link destination but instead, they will be bombarded with endless ads that include a script to auto-download a zip file. It means whoever clicks your shared link will risk receiving malware.
Who Owns ShrinkEarn?
As expected, the owner is unknown. A couple of payment options are restricted to India - ShrinkEarn claims to pay you via PayPal, Payeer, Skrill, etc, but if you live in India, it can only pay you via UPI or bank transfer. Therefore the site is likely to be administered in India.
Does It Actually Pay?
ShrinkEarn claims to pay via;
- PayPal, WebMoney Z, or Payeer (minimum threshold $5)
- Skrill (minimum threshold $20)
- UPI (Tez UPI/PhonePe UPI/Paytm UPI (India only, minimum threshold $5), or
- Bank transfer (India only, minimum threshold $10).
The slogan "Earn Up To $20 per 1,000 Visits", means it sounds like you will earn 2 cents. But it's actually misleading because according to the publisher rate plan, you can only earn that rate "for Greenland" - there is no supplementary explanation to this, but I assume that if a visitor is from Greenland, you will earn 2 cents.
If a visitor is from USA, you will earn 0.9 cents, if a visitor is from any of the T2 countries, you'll earn approx. 0.4 - 0.7 cents, and the rest of the world you'll earn 0.33 cents.
I'm not sure how accurate the rates are, because I've tested it myself - clicked my own link from an IP address in the UK. I received 0.6 cents while it should have been 0.8 cents...Not a significant difference, but I just pointed that out.
Spam Ads
This time once again, I tested my link by "sharing it" with myself and clicking it from a different IP address. Unfortunately the result I saw was appalling. What looked like a bridge page had a few unrelated ads, which was okay. But it also had a javascript notification over the page, which I couldn't get rid of - if I clicked "Allow", it would open up a new browser tab with an ad page. Then I clicked "Deny" and it would also open up another new tab. The notification message would never go away.
There are a couple of buttons and a couple of captchas in the middle of the page, but none of them works - as soon as I clicked any of them, a new browser tab with an ad would open up.
What's worse was, it automatically started to download a zip file named "set up" - I don't know what the file contains. It can contain malware, but that's not the point. It's a download that I didn't initiate, I daren't unzip it, and you wouldn't either.
Ironically, ShrinkEarn's terms of use state that it prohibits "transmitting files that contain viruses, spyware, adware, trojans or other harmful code." But they allow the advertisers to spread a suspicious file. Even if the file does not contain anything malicious, a site with an auto-download script is generally unacceptable, therefore I hope you agree that the advertiser's intention is malicious.
No matter how many times I clicked any item within the page, I was never directed to the page I had set up to.
It means essentially, ShrinkEarn has stopped serving its users. I guess it wasn't making enough money by displaying a couple of PPV ads per link redirect and it's now gone crazy. Shame because the original idea wasn't too bad.
Then What's The Point!?
With all the bad reasons explained above, you'd never want to share ShrinkEarn's short links with your audience. They'll never get to reach the webpage you want to share, anyway. But if you're wondering how you can get around it, perhaps working incognito purely to make a little pocket money with ShrinkEarn, the chances are also slim.
Because ShrinkEarn's terms of use also prohibit users from using traffic exchange or PTC (paid-to-click) websites. Nor do they allow users to bring fake/automated traffic of any kind to their links.
Then what's the point in using ShrinkEarn? Nothing. Unfortunately there's absolutely no point.
By all means, if you're looking for a sustainable way to make a regular income online, never consider oldfashioned "click & earn schemes" such as ShrinkEarn.
ShrinkEarn Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
ShrinkEarn Review - Conclusion:
As you can see, ShrinkEarn is obviously no longer usable as a way of legitimately making money. If you share the shortened link on your social post, webpage, or in your email swipe, the least you do will be to annoy your target audience. And potentially you'll be spreading security risks such as phishing, adware and spyware. If you don't want to damage your reputation, best to stay away from ShrinkEarn. Better to be safe than sorry.
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I don’t like the idea of scamming people like Shrinkearn just to make a few dollars. What do you think of Exobucks? I have been invited to join but when I had a quick look it looked like a serious scam. I’m guessing its similar to Shrinkearn that only by the affiliates who are trying to create buzz. If you know please check. Thanks.
Hi Bob, looks like Exobucks is affiliated with other link shortening advertising services. I wouldn’t personally recommend this kind because you’ll be misleading your audiences and, although you may earn a few cents in a short term, you’ll be losing your trust by repeatedly sharing these links.
Hey there, you are great. In fact, this is one of the most effective and best articles. Keep it up brother. You will succeed.
Thanks Dhruvir!
I know the guy behind it. check facebook an you find out
Are you saying this is a scammer or spammer. or both. what’s the differnece?
Hi Callum, a scam refers to a fraud, whereas spamming is to randomly send out unsolicited messages. ShrinkEarn is definitely a spammer as you can see. Technically it may not be called a scam because it’s not stealing your money, but by sending out deceptive messages it spreads harmful user experience. I hope it explains a little.