My Surveys And My Reviews

1. Who can take part in the Ciao Invite Friends Program?
2. How much money can I earn through the Ciao Invite Friends Program?
3. Why should I recommend Ciao to my friends?
4. How can I sign up for the Invite Friends Program?
5. Will participating cost me anything?
6. How exactly can I invite my friends to join Ciao?
7. How can I tell how many friends have accepted my invitation?
8. Can I invite friends in other countries to join their local Ciao site?
9. When does a circle of friends start to count as a "clicking cartel"?
10. May my friends and I read each others' reviews?
11. When will I get paid?
12. How will I get paid?
13. How can I find out how much money I've earned?
14. How can I be sure of the accuracy of the earnings calculated?
15. How can I unsubscribe from the Program?

1. Who can take part in the Ciao Invite Friends Program?Any Ciao member may take part in the Invite Friends Program

2. How much money can I earn through the Ciao Invite Friends Program?You'll receive money for every relative, friend or acquaintance who is referred to Ciao by you and who then signs up to become a Ciao member, provided that he/she writes at least one review on the site. You'll receive the equivalent of 50% of his/her earnings on the site for his/her first six months of membership (excludes premium fund earnings). For example, if you brought Ciao 20 new, active members who each made $20 on the site in 6 months, you'd earn $200.20 x $10 = $200.

3. Why should I recommend Ciao to my friends?The greater the number of members who write reviews on the site, the more interesting it will become for all concerned. By actively promoting Ciao among your friends, you will, therefore, not only be earning money, but also contributing to making the Ciao community even more varied, colorful, and helpful.

4. How can I sign up for the Invite Friends Program?If you are already a Ciao member, you do not need to sign up specifically for the Program. Simply enter the e-mail addresses of the people you would like to invite to Ciao on the Invite Friends page, and then click on "send message".

5. Will participating cost me anything?No, membership is entirely free.

6. How exactly can I invite my friends to join Ciao?Simply enter the e-mail addresses of the people you would like to invite to Ciao on the Invite Friends page and then click on "Send message". You may also include a personal greeting in your invitation.

7. How can I tell how many friends have accepted my invitation?You can gauge the success of your invitations both in your Ciao account from the commission you have earned, and from the number of invited friends shown in the Community Points Profile in your personal member area "My Ciao".

8. Can I invite friends in other countries to join their local Ciao site?Unfortunately, it is currently impossible to invite friends from other countries. As a member of Ciao USA, you may invite friends to the American Ciao website, but not to the German, French, Spanish, British, Italian, Swedish, or Dutch sites

9. When does a circle of friends start to count as a "clicking cartel"?Your circle of friends counts as a clicking cartel if the absolute majority of reads for your reviews are generated by friends that you have invited to Ciao. Clicking cartels contravene our Terms and Conditions and may lead to the revocation of your membership.

10. May my friends and I read each other's reviews?Within your circle of friends, you are most welcome to read each other's reviews, but these reads should not account for the absolute majority of reads for any one person's reviews.

11. When will I get paid?Payments will be made to your Ciao account on an ongoing basis. Please note, however, that the new members you refer to us must write at least one review on Ciao before we can credit your Ciao account with the referral commission.

12. How will I get paid?All earnings will be paid into your Ciao account. From there, they can then be transferred into your personal PayPal account whenever you choose.

13. How can I find out how much money I've earned?You'll be able to see all earnings from member referrals whenever you check your Ciao account balance. To access your account and view the balance, click on the link in your personal member area My Ciao .

14. How can I be sure of the accuracy of the earnings calculated?The hyperlinks in the invitations sent to your friends contain a unique affiliate ID which we automatically assign to your user name. When the recipients of these e-mails click on the link, we track their progress through the Ciao website and, if they sign up, we know that they came to us via your invitation. You can thus be sure not to miss out on any of the commission you’ve earned. Please note, however, that we can only track your friends and remunerate you for them if they register on Ciao by clicking on the link in the e-mail.

15. How can I unsubscribe from the Program?To stop taking part, simply refrain from sending any further invitations to friends and acquaintances. No other notification is required.

Labels: Review

New! Product of the week: L'Occitane Shea Butter Liquid Soap Lavender
On Monday each week Ciao presents an everyday product on this page. The best three new reviews on this product which are submitted on the following Monday receive a small prize of $ 7, $ 5 and $ 3 respectively. The decision is based on ratings by other Ciao users, therefore the reviews on the product page are sorted according to usefulness.

Modification of the Invite-a-Friend program
Dear Ciao members,
effective today, we are modifying our Invite-a-Friend Program and our Partner Program. We will no longer offer $1 per member who signs up either under the banners you may have placed on your website or via the emails you have sent out from our site (see Invite Friends). However, we will still pay you a 50 percent commission on your members’ earnings for the first 6 months of their membership. This 50 percent commission includes money awarded for positive ratings they receive, which can be worth 1 cent, 2 cents, or 3 cents. For more information, please see our FAQ pages on this matter: Invite Friends FAQ.

Thank you

New Write Review Page
Dear Ciao members! We are proud to present to you a new "write review" page, which is slated to launch this Wednesday, February 11th. This improved page should make publishing reviews easier for you. More details will be revealed after this new feature is released.

Thank you!

Diamonds for January 2009 reviews!
The premium fund for January 09 has now been distributed to the best reviews written during the month. Please check your Ciao accounts to see if one or more of your reviews have been awarded. The Diamonds for 10 of the best reviews are listed.

More Information About Changes to Our Incentives
Dear members,

We realized that we may have caused some confusion in our last announcement over whether you earn money for positive ratings still: Yes, you do earn money for positive ratings (products with USD symbols beside), and there are absolutely no plans to end this program. Please see the FAQ page concerning pay for ratings: http://www.ciao.com/faq.php/Id/2/Idx/5/Idy/1

Thank you.

Ciao Cafe Current Issue for March 2009
Every month Ciao presents a new topic of discussion. The best review on this product that is submitted during the month will receive a small prize of 10 USD, the second place USD 5.

New: Ciao Wall on Facebook!
Dear Ciao members, 

We are proud to announce Ciao Wall, which is a new application for the Facebook social community.

You can interact with your Facebook friends using millions of items (movies, music, gadgets, hotels, and much more) from the catalogue of Ciao.co.uk! Send gifts, romantic gifts, recommendations or warnings. You can even send posts together with your friends or schedule them for a certain date. Enjoy it!

Labels: Review

1. Forgotten your password or username?
2. How do I join for free?
3. How do I cancel my membership?
4. How can I earn money on the Ciao site?
5. How do I rate a product?
6. What is the Circle of Trust?
7. How do I upload a picture of myself into my personal profile?
8. Can I write about products that are not included on Ciao?
9. Does Ciao sell any products itself?
10. Does Ciao censor members' product reviews?

1. Forgotten your password or username?

Check to see if you still have the original e-mail confirming your Ciao membership. This will contain both your Ciao member name and your password. If you have deleted this e-mail, you can request a reminder here.

2. How do I join for free?

Click the “Login” link on the top right-hand side of any Ciao page. Fill out our quick and easy registration form. After you complete the form, an e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address that you have provided. This e-mail will contain a link that you must click on to confirm your registration and activate your Ciao account. Top

3. How do I cancel my membership?

To cancel your membership, simply log in and click on “Cancel Membership” in your member profile. Any earnings that have not been transferred out of your Ciao Account will be lost. Top

4. How can I earn money on Ciao?

There are lots of fun and easy ways to earn money on Ciao. When you write a review of a product or service, you are paid every time another member reads and rates your review (a "read"). Inviting your friends to become Ciao members also earns you money: For the first 6 months of their Ciao membership, you will earn a commission equal to 50 percent of their earnings on Ciao (excludes survey earnings). To find out more about opportunities for earning money on Ciao, please consult our Earning Money FAQs. Top

5. How do I rate a product?

You can rate products only when you write a product review. To do this, click on the “write a review” link. After you have filled in your review text, simply select options from the pull-down menus and click on the buttons to rate the product. Your qualitative rating will then be translated into a numerical score that is averaged to produce an overall member rating.Top

6. What is the Circle of Trust?

If you find a member’s reviews consistently interesting and helpful, you can nominate him/her to join your network of trusted members, otherwise known as the “Circle of Trust.” You may invite up to 100 members to join your Circle of Trust. Once you have done so, any reviews that your trusted members have written will appear at the top of the review list for items you are researching. The Circle of Trust operates on three different levels. The reviews which appear at the top of the review page are written by members whom you personally trust. The reviews which follow are those written by members of your “trustee’s” Circle of Trust. After those come the reviews written by the authors whom these members trust. Top

7. How do I upload a picture of myself into my personal profile?

When you have logged in, go to the “My Ciao” area. On the upper left-hand side, under your default member picture, you will see the button “Edit picture.” Click there and then simply click on the “Browse...” button and select the image file from your computer that you wish to upload. To finish, click on “Upload picture.” Top

8. Can I write about products which are not included on Ciao?

No, you can only write reviews about products that are listed in the Ciao product categories. However, should you wish to review a product that is not in the list, you can always propose that it be added to the catalogue. In each category, underneath the product selection, you will find a link “Product not found?” We will process your request as soon as possible, though we cannot guarantee that we will introduce the product that you suggest into the product catalogue. You can also include a picture of the recommended product along with your proposal. This should be sent as a JPEG file, 200 x 200 pixels large. The file size should not exceed 10KB. Top

9. Does Ciao sell any products itself?

No. Although Ciao aims to help consumers make decisions about the products they wish to buy, the products are not for sale on the site. However, we provide an extensive series of links to our reliable online shop partners and a Price Comparison Engine that helps you to determine where the best offer is available. Click on the “Price Comparison” link on each product overview page to choose an e-tailer. Top

10. Does Ciao censor members' product reviews?

We have a strict policy of non-censorship. We believe that every consumer is entitled to his/her opinion on a product or service and we will not alter reviews if we, or the product manufacturer in question, do not agree with the author’s opinion. However, we cannot tolerate the abusive use of the review facility as a means of publishing offensive or unlawful content. Any such reviews will be removed, and their author’s account will be blocked. When a company contacts us claiming that a review contains factual errors, defamatory statements, or other legally questionable material, we have to make a judgment call to ensure the integrity of our website content. Should you find any examples of inappropriate reviews on the site, please report them.

Labels: Review

1. What exactly is Ciao?
2. How can I take an active part in Ciao?
3. Does taking part cost anything?
4. What can Ciao do for users?
5. What can Ciao do for businesses?
6. How does Ciao earn money?

1. What exactly is Ciao?

Ciao is a multi-million-strong online community that critically reviews and rates millions of products and services for the benefit of other consumers. Available free of charge to consumers in local language versions in major western European and North American markets, Ciao combines unbiased consumer reviews and up-to-date price information from hundreds of online retailers to make it the most comprehensive source of intelligent shopping on the web. Testimony to Ciao's success, more than 38 million consumers visit the site every month, making it one of the largest shopping portals in North America and Europe.Top

2. How can I take an active part in Ciao?

You can register free and it's easy. As soon as your Ciao account has been activated (this usually only takes a few minutes), you can start to actively participate in Ciao and earn money!Top

3. Does taking part cost anything?
No, participating in Ciao costs you nothing and is completely obligation free – and in fact, by actively participating on Ciao, you can even earn money!Top

4. What can Ciao do for users?
Ciao is the most comprehensive source of intelligent shopping on the web. Ciao presents users with a range of valuable information on consumer goods and services on the market, including authentic reviews by other users and a comparison of the prices available at the most competitive online shops. Whether you're looking for the best DVD player, the most reliable electricity provider, or the best price for a particular model of cell phone, you can be sure to find the information you need on Ciao.Top

5. What can Ciao do for businesses?
Ciao offers a highly effective marketing environment for merchants and advertisers, where they can access well-informed customers in the critical moment when they are taking purchase decisions. Of the more than 38 million monthly visitors (Source: Omniture Dec 2006) to the platform, more than 2 million move on to merchants and buy. Businesses who would like to get in touch with us should visit our corporate website for an overview of our services.Top

6. How does Ciao earn money?
Ciao earns money from online advertising with retailers who pay to have their online stores linked from the site. We never sell our members' e-mail addresses or earn money from member data in any way. To find out more about how Ciao uses your data, please read our Privacy Policy.

Labels: Review