ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — How much money would you be willing to get paid to let a company track everything you do on your phone?
That’s the offer some VERIFY viewers say they’re getting.
Kathy W. in Spring Hill emailed 10 Tampa Bay after she received a postcard in the mail claiming to be from Google. It offered her money to join something called the Online Insights Study.
Kathy and others online who say they’ve received similar postcards questioned if it was a scam.
THE QUESTION
Is Google paying people to take part in an online research study that tracks what you do on your devices?
THE SOURCES
- Online Insights Study official website
- Gallup
THE ANSWER
Yes, Google is paying people to take an online research study that tracks what they do on their devices. Participants who allow their phone activity to be tracked can earn up to $1.50 per week.
WHAT WE FOUND
The Online Insights Study is a research program that records the ads participants view on their devices and what they do when they see them – how long they view them, if they click on them, visit different websites or make online purchases.
It appears to have launched with little fanfare in 2022.
According to Google’s website for the study, participants can earn points to redeem gift cards after installing the necessary app on their phone or browser extension on their computer to enable tracking.
The more devices you allow to be tracked, the more points you can earn for gift cards.
Participants must be invited to enroll.
Gallup, a public opinion research firm, partnered with Google to randomly select respondents to take part, a spokesperson told VERIFY.
Google asserts participants’ personal information isn’t shared outside of Google and won’t be used to serve you personalized ads. But the tech giant has come under scrutiny in the past for its handling of user data.
Google recently settled a $5 billion lawsuit alleging it spied on people using their web browsers in private mode.
Participants can supposedly opt to remove their data or leave the study at any time, according to Gallup’s spokesperson.
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