YouGov vs Consumer Opinion Institute

We've experienced nothing but good things with YouGov's customer service. Inquiries are answered quickly and politely. If you have missing points or your redemption is slow, you'll always hear back from them in a few hours.

Backed by global market research company TNS, Consumer Opinion Institute has an extensive background in customer service and responds to any inquiries very quickly.

Although there's no doubt about YouGov's reliability and their interesting surveys, survey invites are somewhat infrequent. Plus, they are fairly strict about their quota, and may not accept you based on your ZIP or other geographical factors.

In general, these aren't the biggest drawbacks, but there may be better options if you're looking for frequent invites.

This could almost be considered a positive, but it can be extremely difficult to join Consumer Opinion Institute. Their clients demand very specific information from particular demographics, so you kind of have to be lucky if you happen to fall into one of the groups being accepted.

It should also be noted that no one is getting rich from this program as you'll generally receive only about three surveys per month. However, you will receive this consistently, so you can depend on the supplemental income.