It's simple! You just enter some basic information about the site(s) that you want to promote - a Category, the URL, a Title, and a Description.

This information is used to generate targeted links to your site, which are then displayed throughout the TrafficSwarm network - including our incredibly popular "Surf Page" system, the TrafficSwarm search engine, etc.

And our automated Anti-Cheat monitoring systems mean that you're guaranteed only real, live, targeted visitors to your site(s).

Unlike most other traffic-exchanges, when you join TrafficSwarm your site is exposed to potentially 1000s of new and unique visitors each and every day - not just other members of the traffic-exchange network.

While the TrafficSwarm Surf Page system is the heart of the network, and hundreds of new users sign-up and begin using it every day, it's just one of several "audiences" you're exposed to.

For example, consider the TrafficSwarm Search Engine. 1000s of websites, covering every topic you can think of, proudly offer a TrafficSwarm Search interface in prominent locations of their sites. The combined audience of the TrafficSwarm Search network consists of millions of unique web surfers per day, and they can all find your site(s) in our Search Engine if you're offering what they are looking for.

Don't settle for a traffic-generation system where your links or site is only exposed to other users of the system. A huge audience of prospects is just another of the many benefits unique to TrafficSwarm.

The TrafficSwarm Exit Page system was discontinued on Sunday, February 23, 2003, because it no longer supported our primary directive of generating lots of targeted and high-quality traffic for our users.

The primary reasons were the ongoing decline in the response to pop-up/pop-under advertising, and the fact that due to the nature of the Exit Page system we couldn't prevent cheating 100%. Anything less was just unacceptable.

With the Exit Page gone, TrafficSwarm is now 100% cheat-proof. This will ensure only real, targeted traffic and increase your results tremendously - because the Exit Page system was using close to half of our users' credits and generating only about 7% of the clicks to their sites.

Generally speaking, we recommend using the latest version of your favorite web browser - whether it's Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc. If you are using a recent version of any of these browsers you won't have any serious problems using any aspect of TrafficSwarm. Even Netscape 4.7x should work fine.

Cookies are required by many parts of the system, so make sure that your system is set-up to accept cookies from TrafficSwarm. TrafficSwarm is fully P3P-compliant, and serves no 3rd-party cookies, so you have nothing to worry about. Click here for more info on cookies and TrafficSwarm.

The only other thing you should be aware of is your brower's "cache" setting - make sure it is set to check for new versions of stored pages "automatically", "always", "once per session", etc. depending on which browser you're using. Do NOT set it to "Never" check for new pages or you will have problems.

Even if your website isn't ready yet or you don't want traffic delivered to your site for some reason, you should still Join for Free right now and/or continue participating in the TrafficSwarm network so you can build up credits.

If you don't want traffic to your site right now, just Login to your account and you can temporarily disable your links from being displayed. Then when you are ready for traffic all you have to do is re-enable your links.

TrafficSwarm is 100% FREE. It always has been, and it always will be. You do not have to buy anything, "upgrade" anything, subscribe to anything, or spend any money if you don't want to. Great results can be had absolutely free. For those that wish to do so, several credit packages are available for purchase. You can also upgrade to a "Pro" account for a small monthly fee if you want, with many great benefits.

You could rack up a billion impressions on other traffic exchanges, but what's the use if most of the "visits" to your site are by automated robots, scripts, emulators, auto-clickers, and various other tools that cheaters use to steal your credits? Without real, live visitors you have nothing.

The primary reason that TrafficSwarm generates such incredible results is because unlike most systems that force people to view random websites, with TrafficSwarm they get to choose what they are interested in ...

But the other big reason is that cheating is practically non-existent on our network. Elaborate automated Anti-Cheat monitoring systems and manual investigation where applicable mean that cheaters don't stand a chance.

The Surf Page system is one of the primary parts of the TrafficSwarm network. Your browser's "home page" is the page that is automatically displayed each time you start your browser, and all users are strongly encouraged to set this to their TrafficSwarm Surf Page.

The TrafficSwarm Surf Page is a great way to start your web browsing. You tell the system what you're interested in, and each time you start your browser you'll be presented with links to nine targeted sites in the network.

But that's just the start. One of the best reasons to set your home page to TrafficSwarm is that you can earn a ton of credits! Each time you open your browser and your Surf Page is displayed you'll earn 1 credit, and up to 1,000 credits each time you click on any of the links!

To set your browser's home page to TrafficSwarm, please use the following URL: http://www.trafficswarm.com/surf   That's how simple it is to start earning more TrafficSwarm credits!

The fraud test is an integral part of our anti-cheat system, which ensures you receive only real, live targeted traffic from TrafficSwarm. It prevents cheaters from using automated scripts or software to simulate "clicks" to your site.

It also ensures that all Surf Page users are paying attention to what they are doing, rather than just clicking away like crazy and rushing through everything that pops up on their screen.

Every now and then you'll see an ad with a title that says something like "Fraud Test - Do Not Click."  All you have to do to "pass" the test is not click that link - easy as that!  However, those that are lazy or are trying to cheat the system may very well fail the test.  Fail it too many times and your TrafficSwarm will automatically be cancelled.  There's just no reason to fail the fraud test if you're using your Surf Page properly.

When you select the category or categories of sites you're interested in, the system will make every attempt to display only those types of sites on your Surf Page. If you occasionally see other types of sites, this is nothing to worry about.

The system is self-adjusting, and there are over 2 dozen variables that determine which links are displayed at any given time. And in order to keep things in "balance", the system may occassionally need to display links from other categories.

Over time you should see less and less of this as the system becomes "smarter" and becomes better at adapting to short-term irregularities. And remember - don't forget to use the Search Engine if you are looking for something in particular!

You're surfing your Surf Page and come across a site that you really like, and you want to bookmark it or add it to your favorites. You try to do so the "normal" way but find you've bookmarked your own Surf Page, right?

Due to the way the Surf Page system works you can't bookmark a site directly. Here's how to do it based on the browser you're using:

Internet Explorer/AOL
Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Add to Favorites...".

Firefox
Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Bookmark This Page".

Netscape 7
Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Bookmark This Page".

Netscape 6
Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Open Frame in New Window", add it to your bookmarks normally, then close the window to return.

Netscape 4.7+
Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Add Bookmark".

Opera 6+
Right-click anywhere on the page, select "Frame" then "Add to Bookmarks".

Loading your Surf Page as fast as you can just to earn a few extra credits is not what the Surf Page is for. There's no such thing as a free lunch - and doing so is just a waste of other users' hard-earned credits.

Plus, you'll earn a lot more credits by using the Surf Page properly anyway - because you earn anywhere from 1 to 1,000 free credits for every link that you click on.

We understand that a small percentage of users might want to load their Surf Page automatically for legitimate reasons - such as those with carpal tunnel syndrome or other disabilities who often use such techniques to reduce the physical effort required to use their computers.

Unfortunately, the majority of people who use automated methods to load their Surf Page are trying to cheat the system - they set it in motion then leave the room or do other things in an effort to "earn" more credits.

This wastes other users' hard-earned credits, and we simply can't let this happen - it goes directly against the very thing that makes TrafficSwarm an effective traffic-generation system for tens of thousands of users.

Thus, your account will be automatically deleted after 3 warnings if you continue to use automated mechanisms to load your Surf Page.

Note: We are currently in the process of upgrading our systems in the hope that it will soon be able to tell the difference between a cheater and someone who has a legitimate reason to load their Surf Page automatically.

Your Surf Page is just that - YOUR Surf Page. It is for you to use, and no one else. Every user has their own Surf Page, and anyone that wants a TrafficSwarm Surf Page simply needs to create a free account.

We found that most people who wanted to promote their Surf Page wanted to do so via other traffic exchanges, rotaters, etc. And unfortunately most of them don't have adequate anti-cheating measures in place - which means that our users' hard-earned impressions would be wasted.

The proper way to introduce people to TrafficSwarm is by promoting your Referral URL. Promoting your Referral URL will generate more referrals and a lot more credits anyway - it's a proven fact!

The #1 reason NOT to promote your Surf Page URL is that YOU are responsible for it's use.

If you do, other people WILL abuse it - and they definitely will NOT perform the required click tests on your behalf - and YOU will be held responsible ... so do NOT promote your Surf Page.

Note: There is absolutely no way that anyone can find out your Surf Page URL, unless YOU give it to them. So you are held 100% responsible, and there are no exceptions. If you promote your Surf Page URL and then your account gets deleted, please do not email us asking why.

Whenever you open your browser you're presented with links to sites in the category or categories you're interested in. So over time you'll find all sorts of great sites you'll benefit from, if you're actually looking at them.

Note: If you're not seeing the types of sites you're interested
in, go to My Account and edit your account preferences - you can
specify the exact type(s) of sites you're interested in.

The Surf Page is meant to be a useful tool for you, but you need to use it properly. Loading it as fast as you can just to try to earn credits and never even looking at what appears on your Surf Page is not the way to do it.

If you don't want to, or can't use the Surf Page it's no problem. You can still earn tons of credits by referring other users to TrafficSwarm.

If you received an email warning from our monitoring systems that you are loading your Surf Page using automated mechanisms, or that you are inappropriately promoting your Surf Page, please take it seriously.

While the warning doesn't mean we're calling you a "cheater", it does indicate with 100% accuracy that you've violated our Terms of Service.

We understand that it could have been an innocent mistake, which is why you received a warning. However, if you ignore the warnings and continue to violate the rules the system will automatically delete your account.

"I'm not loading my page automatically, it must be a coincidence!"

Our monitoring systems are very accurate in detecting automated loads of your Surf Page, which is strictly prohibited. The odds of receiving a warning when you really aren't using an automated system to load your Surf Page have been conservatively estimated at over a billion to 1.

But just in case you're the unluckiest person in the world, we allow you 3 warnings. If you're really not loading your Surf Page automatically, you have nothing to worry about - the odds of our system being wrong 4 times are incomprehensible, and simply will not happen in your lifetime.

In the event you are surfing for credits and run into a frame breaker site (a site that removes you from the surf page), simply click on the "Ads Clicked Today" link at the top right of the surf page then click on the "Report Frame Breaker" link for the ad that you are reporting.

Credits are the backbone of the TrafficSwarm system. Users earn credits in a variety of ways, and/or purchase credits at very affordable rates. Each credit then results in the user's link(s) being displayed throughout the network in a variety of ways, which generates traffic to the users' site.

The number of times your links are shown is based on a simple "credit" system - each credit that you earn or purchase represents another targeted link to your site. Listed below are the many ways to earn traffic credits ...

1. Set your browser's home page to your custom TrafficSwarm URL, and you will earn 1 credit each time you open your browser.
   
   
2. Click on other users' links on your Surf Page and you'll randomly earn between 1 and 1,000 credits for each site you visit.
   
   
3. Use the TrafficSwarm Search Engine to find what you're looking for, and earn between 1 and 1,000 credits for each site you visit.
   
   
4. You can also earn free "mystery credits", as well as play the TrafficSwarm Lottery and win up to 25,000+ credits per day.
   
   
5. Refer other webmasters to TrafficSwarm (you will NOT believe how EASY this is, in fact, it happens automatically!), and you will also:
   
   
   • Earn 100 credits for each new user you refer
     
     
   • and earn 1 credit each time they open THEIR browser
     
     ... down 5 "levels" deep! What this means is that if you refer Joe to TrafficSwarm, Joe refers Mary, Mary refers Bill, Bill refers Sally, and Sally refers Ed ... you will earn credits on ALL of these people, and people they refer too!
     
     

This is VERY powerful, because it's "viral". Once you refer a few other webmasters to TrafficSwarm (directly or indirectly) YOUR own site's traffic will increase exponentially and automatically. Join for Free!

Currently no. One credit is deducted each time your link is displayed on the Surf Page, but it doesn't "cost" you any credits when your link is displayed in the Search Engine results, or when someone clicks on your link(s).

In the future this may change as we are working on additional systems which may involve "bidding" i.e. you bid a certain number of credits you're willing to "pay" for each click in return for preferential listings, etc.

Each time you click on another users' link - either on your Surf Page, in the Search Engine, etc. - you will earn free credits as outlined below.

The number of credits you earn is random, and ranges anywhere from 1 to 1,000 free credits every time you click. This can really add up, so we encourage you to do all of the things mentioned above, and click often.

In order to prevent abuse of the system, there are restrictions:

1. You can click as many sites as you want, but you will only earn free credits on your first 250 clicks per day. We believe this is a good balance between preventing abuse, but also allowing you to earn lots of free credits.

2. You can only earn free clicks once every 20 seconds. If you click on a users' site, you are expected to at least take a quick look at the site before clicking on another site. Clicking 10 sites in 15 seconds in an attempt to get lots of
free credits is a waste of time and resources, and is not allowed.

3. You will only earn free credits once per day per site. If you click the same link 100 times in 1 day, you will only earn free credits once.

We can't reveal the exact details on how the anti-cheating system works, for obvious reasons, but there are also other systems in place to detect abuse. Any user trying to abuse the system will be automatically deleted.

Keep in mind that your links are constantly being displayed throughout the TrafficSwarm network. So for example, if you click and earn 3 credits but notice that your Credits Owed only went up by 2, that means that your link was displayed once in the time it took you to reload the page. Your stats would confirm this, and always show you exactly what is happening with your credits.

This is actually a good thing - it means your links are been displayed on the TrafficSwarm network and you are getting traffic to your site(s)! Each credit you earn is worth 1 display of your link, so as you earn credits they are used to display your links (unless you have disabled all your URLs).

If you have available credits, your link(s) will be displayed in the category or categories that you have selected within a relatively short time. The more credits you have, the faster your links are displayed.

Sometimes your link will be shown within seconds of you earning credits, and other times it will take a little longer. Over a very short time period you may notice your credits building up, but this is nothing to worry about.

If you earn 1,000 credits in a week, for example, your link will be displayed approximately the same number of times during that same period.

The exact timing of when your links are displayed is based on many factors, including but not limited to the number of active users who are owed credits at any given time, the distribution of these earned credits across various categories, how many pageviews are generated on a particular day, etc.

It's a very complex system, but in the end it all evens out. TrafficSwarm is self-adjusting, which means it constantly adapts to the way that people use the system. For example, if your credits build up for one reason or another the system will automatically start displaying your links more frequently.

You can now control the maximum number of credits each of your ads uses each day using the "Credit Cap" feature.  You enter this number when you create your ad, or when you edit an existing ad.

For example, if you set the Credit Cap to 50 for your first ad, that ad will use no more than 50 credits per day.  The number you enter is the maximum number of credits that can be used by that ad -- it is not a guarantee that the ad will use that exact amount.

Setting the Credit Cap to 0 (zero) means there is no maximum cap.

There is no limit to the number of credits you can earn overall, however, there are some daily limits in place.

You can click as many sites as you want each day, but you will only earn free credits on your first 250 clicks per day.  We believe this is a good balance between preventing abuse, but also allowing you to earn lots of free credits.

The most credits you can earn per day by opening or reloading your TrafficSwarm Surf Page is 30.  This is to prevent cheaters from reloading the page 100s or 1000s of times and wasting the credits you and other users have earned.  After 30 loads of your Surf Page, you will need to click a link on the Surf Page to earn credits.  Again, you can continue to earn credits on your first 250 clicks each day.

The TrafficSwarm Credit Lottery is a fun way to win lots of credits, and get even more free traffic to your site(s). There's a new drawing every day, and 100% of the credits wagered are distributed to the winner for that day. A member can win one time each month. After that month is up, the member can play to possibly win again.

In a nutshell you can "wager" up to 50% of your credits, and with a little luck you can win big! With 1000s of users playing the lottery every day, the jackpot is usually at least 10,000 credits - and sometimes a lot more!

One credit gets you one ticket in the daily drawing, so the more tickets you get the more chances you have to win. Winners are notified nightly via email, and the daily winner is also posted on the website in various places.

Your ad copy (whether in the form of a sales letter, web page, banner ad, e-zine ad, etc.) is the MOST important aspect of any promotion. A well written ad gets the potential customer interested and in a "buying mood", whereas a poorly written ad bores and drives customers AWAY from your business.

Listed below are some general suggestions for writing a good TrafficSwarm ad - so we're going to keep it simple and to the point. But if you'd like more extensive information on ad copy writing tactics, make sure you read a great article entitled "How To Sell Anything, To Anyone".


The headline or title of your ad is the MOST important thing of all, because it's the first thing your potential prospect sees. Your title should promise or allude to some key benefit. It can either be a statement or a question such as "Finally, a cure for baldness..." or "Are you balding? Then read this..."


The description is the "closer". You get their attention with the headline and convince the prospect to click with your description. Keep it short, to the point and be specific. List benefits - not features - of your offer.

Here's an example of a good ad which combines all the above criteria:

Are your sales lagging? Need more hits? Discover how you can copy one of the most successful online ad campaigns EVER, and generate an extra 10,000 to 1,000,000 visitors to YOUR site this month. It doesn't matter what kind of site you have, it's fully-automated, and best of all - it's 100% Guaranteed.

Remember, the whole point of your ad is to get the potential prospect interested and/or curious enough to click to your site for more information. That's it.You simply want the prospect to think to themselves "Wow this sounds interesting ... I think I'll click and check it out."

A few final tips. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE ALL CAPS LIKE THIS in your ad. It's hard to read, but more importantly it screams hype. Same thing with exclamation points like this!!!!!!!!!!!!! It raises a red flag in the readers mind and most immediately think of hype, scams, etc.

The TrafficSwarm Surf Page system uses frames, which is why we require that the URLs you promote via TrafficSwarm don't "break out" of frames.

Some people intentionally code their webpages in a way that prevents them from being framed, but the TrafficSwarm system needs to do so.

If you haven't specifically coded your webpages to break out of frames, then they should be fine. If you're promoting an affiliate site or other page you didn't create and aren't sure, you can click here to test it.

Due to the way TrafficSwarm works, it would be very difficult to provide click stats in any meaningful way. Reporting this info for over 100,000 users with over 500,000 links that are constantly changing is no small task, and just isn't worth it when you can do it yourself much more easily and effectively.

At best we could provide the raw number of times your links are clicked, but that is practically worthless data from a tracking standpoint. But don't worry, it's easy to do yourself and you'll be better off anyway. Here's an overview of the 2 basic ways to track links, depending on how serious you are ...

1. Use basic "tracking urls" at TrafficSwarm

Say your website is http://www.mysite.com. Rather than promoting this URL via TrafficSwarm, submit a slightly modified URL that includes a unique tracking code at the end of the URL. Here's an example:

http://www.mysite.com?trafficswarm

Then, all you need to do is use your current web stats system to see exactly how many times this specific URL with the special tracking code was accessed. If you're promoting multiple links at TrafficSwarm and testing various titles and descriptions, etc. just use a different "code" at the end of each URL:

http://www.mysite.com?trafficswarm1
http://www.mysite.com?trafficswarm2
http://www.mysite.com?trafficswarm3
etc.

2. Use a more sophisticated "link tracking" system

There are many different types of software and/or web-based systems that you can use to track all of your ads, whether at TrafficSwarm or anywhere else. Some of them can be installed and run at your own site, while others are offered as 3rd-party services where you usually pay a small monthly fee. If you run a for-profit web business you can literally double or triple your business by using such a tool.

A good website to get information on the various options available is Ad-Tracking.com.

If you're really serious, we suggest a good link tracking system like AdMinder. Not only will it track the visitors generated from all of your links/ads, but it can also track exactly how many sales, downloads, subscribers, etc. were generated from each ad, calculate your return on investment, etc.

With a standard "free" account you can promote up to 10 different URLs, as long as they all adhere to our "Family Safe" Policy (no pornographic, illegal, or other sites that are inappropriate for a general audience.) However, you'll only be able to promote 1 URL until you activate your account.

If you upgrade to a Pro Account there is no limit - you can promote an unlimited number of URLs.

If you have available credits, your link(s) will be displayed in the category or categories that you have selected within a relatively short time. The more credits you have, the faster your links are displayed.

Sometimes your link will be shown within seconds of you earning credits, and other times it will take a little longer. Over a very short time period you may notice your credits building up, but this is nothing to worry about.

If you earn 1,000 credits in a week, for example, your link will be displayed approximately the same number of times during that same period.

The exact timing of when your links are displayed is based on many factors, including but not limited to the number of active users who are owed credits at any given time, the distribution of these earned credits across various categories, how many pageviews are generated on a particular day, etc.

It's a very complex system, but in the end it all evens out. TrafficSwarm is self-adjusting, which means it constantly adapts to the way that people use the system. For example, if your credits build up for one reason or another the system will automatically start displaying your links more frequently.

In order to not waste any of your credits, your own link will never appear on your own TrafficSwarm page. Your links are only shown to real prospects - which is another reason TrafficSwarm generates above-average results.

If you want to see what your link looks like in the TrafficSwarm system, you can easily do this once you Login to your account. Just click the "View" link next to whichever URL/link you want to see.

The position of your link is always random - your link has an equal chance of being in any given position, at any time, as any other users' link. Over time your links will appear in the top row, middle row, and bottom rows equally.

There are several standard reasons a URL will be rejected, which are all explained in more detail below. Otherwise, the email that you received should explain in exact detail why your URL was rejected.

Adult Content
Adult content, or links to adult content, are strictly prohibited. This goes for blatantly pornographic content, as well as any other content not suitable for a general audience. Children may visit your site via TrafficSwarm.

Inappropriate Ad Text
You must provide a meaningful Title and Description for your link. Single words or a long list of keywords one after another are not acceptable. Your Title and Description must be formatted in an appropriate manner i.e. spaces between words, proper use of capitalization, etc.

Inappropriate Site
Sites that contain or link to any of the following are not appropriate - software piracy or content promoting other illegal activities, non-English content, content that is inflammatory, defamatory or generally offensive.

Please do not submit sites that are not essentially "finished" and/or presentable. If your site is obviously still "under construction" i.e. lots of broken images, links don't work, etc. it will also be rejected.

Non-English Content
TrafficSwarm is currently accepting only sites with content that is primarily in English, as the overwhelming majority of our users are English-speaking. We are working on ways to drive traffic to Non-English sites - stay tuned.

Too Many Pop-Ups
One tasteful pop-up/pop-under on entry and/or exit is acceptable. Thus, if your site spawns multiple pop-up/pop-under windows at the same time, windows that can't be closed, etc. your URL will be rejected.

Javascript prompts are treated as if they were a pop-up. So if your page spawns a pop-up and a Javascript prompt, it will also be rejected. The idea is that our users shouldn't have to close more than 1 additional window.

URL Breaks Frames
Your URL "breaks frames" which is a violation of our Terms of Service. If you don't understand what this means, see the specific FAQ about frames in this section.

URL Does Not Work
This means your URL was rejected because it did not load and/or display properly. Reasons for this could be "404 Not Found", "Page Can Not Be Displayed", or any other related errors when trying to load your URL.

If your page doesn't load at all due to a problem with your ISP, website provider, etc. we will generally try again a few hours later before rejecting it. However, if it's unavailable for an extended period it will be rejected.

The Credit Cap feature allows you to control how many credits you spend each day for each URL you are promoting.  For example, suppose you have three different URLs you are promoting.  Suppose you want to spend no more than 100 credits per day on the first URL, you want the second URL to use no more than 500 credits per day and you don't want to set a maximum or "cap" for the third URL.  To accomplish this, the credit cap should be set to 100, 500 and 0 for the URLs, respectively.

The "Credit Cap Used" number indicates how many credits have been used for the given URL for the current day.

Many of you rely on the color of the title of an ad to determine whether you've visited the site or not.  With the new fraud test, the titles will not be turning color.  You will, however, find an asterisk (*) next to the title of each ad.  If you have not clicked on that ad before, the asterisk color should be blue.  However, if you've already visited the site, the asterisk will be black.

Note:  This works fine in Internet Explorer but may not work in other browsers due to the way they handle links and Javascript.

You'll benefit tremendously from referring other new users to TrafficSwarm. For starters, you'll earn 100 Free Bonus Credits when your personal 1st level referrals activate their account. You will also earn 1 credit each time ANYONE in your downline opens their browser or loads their Surf Page - 5 levels deep!

But that's not all! Upgrade to a Pro Account and you'll also earn 1 credit each time any of your personal 1st level referrals clicks on any of the links on their Surf Page or in the Search Engine results - and that can really add up. Plus you'll have the opportunity to earn commissions paid daily when anyone in your downline upgrades to Pro, and a bunch of other valuable Pro benefits!

Just Login to your account and click the link that says "Promotion Tips & Help". There you'll find your unique Referral URL, banners, sample ads, a sample endorsement letter, tips and strategies etc.

You'll receive your 100 FREE Credits when your referred user activates their account. Until then they will be reflected as a Non-Activated Referral in your stats. You will still earn credits when they open their browser, etc. you just won't get the 100 bonus credits until they activate their account.

This helps us to reduce cheating, and by giving away free credits only to those who are actually using TrafficSwarm (and their referer) we ensure that those who deserve it get the best results.

Rest assured, you do get credit for anyone you refer. Our bullet-proof tracking system uses a combination of cookies, IP addresses, etc. to make sure you always get credit - even if they don't sign-up right away. Our system will track the people you refer for up to 10 years ("forever" in Internet terms).

Your Referral URL leads people who click on it directly to the home page on TrafficSwarm.com. If you click on your Referral URL and you are automatically logged in to your account, that is only because you didn't Log Out the last time you accessed your account - this is for your convenience.

Rest assured that no one else will be able to access your account. To see exactly what a referred user will see when they click on your Referral URL, log out of your account and THEN go to your Referral URL.

As much as we want to make this available, the potential for abuse is huge. In our experience most users prefer to remain "anonymous" and are sick of receiving "promotional" emails from their upline in all the various programs they join. This is not always the case however, so we are working on this. Soon you will be able to get full contact info for those in your downline who choose to make it available to you.

No, sorry. If we were to give free credits to referrers each time a referred user purchased credits, we would have to increase the cost of purchasing credits - otherwise TrafficSwarm couldn't be a free service. Plus, we feel that it makes more sense to make buying credits as affordable as possible.

You do however earn credits each time your referred users open their browser. And if you upgrade to a Pro account you can even earn credits when they click on links on their Surf Page or in the Search Engine - and commissions when any of your referred users upgrade to Pro.

Yes, believe it or not some people just don't see the power of TrafficSwarm and do cancel their accounts. Generally speaking it is those who sign-up thinking they are going to get something for nothing, then find out that is not the case and cancel in order to stop receiving our emails.

On top of that, any account that has no activity after 60 days is automatically deleted by the system as well. Inactive users receive several helpful emails before their account is deleted for inactivity, but if they don't have any interest in using TrafficSwarm then we don't have any interest in wasting our resources by keeping them in our databases, etc. since they aren't doing us or you any good.

Finally, we strictly enforce all of the rules and regulations laid out in our Terms of Service and unfortunately need to delete many users each and every day for blatant violations of the rules i.e. cheaters who benefit no one.

A Pro account has many benefits, with something for everyone. Whether you use the Surf Page a lot or never at all, whether you refer lots of other users or just a few, and even if you don't really use the system at all and just want to promote your site(s) - upgrading to a Pro account just makes sense.

Here are the monthly benefits of a Pro account, which begin the moment you upgrade:

1. 5,000 credits automatically added to your account.
   
   
2. You'll receive 200 credits for referring new members -- that's twice as many as Free members earn.
   
   
3. You'll get 10% more credits free with any credits purchased.
   
   
4. NEW You'll earn a minimum of three Credits (two Bonus Pro Credits) on your first 20 Surf Page clicks each day! Plus earn a minumum of two credits (1 Bonus credit) for each click after the initial 20 per day . This means that aside from any mystery bonuses, you will generally earn 3-7 for the first 20 clicks and 2-6 credits for each click after that as opposed to 1-5 credits for Free users. (That's an additional 1,500 credits compared to a Free user with only 30 clicks per day!)
   
   
5. NEW You'll earn two credits for each load of your Surf Page. Free TrafficSwarm users earn one credit for their first 30 Surf Page loads each day. PRO users now earn twice that amount meaning you will earn an extra 900 credits every month, assuming a 30 day month.
   
   
6. NEW You'll earn two Bonus Credits on Surf Pages loads 31-50. That's another 1,200 credits each month over a Free user.
   
   
7. You'll earn 1 bonus credit each time one of your personally referred downline users (those on your 1st level) clicks on any of the links on their Surf Page or in the Search Engine. Wow!
   
   
8. Your link(s) will be part of the "Featured Sites" rotation with other Pro users, and you will receive an equal share of the "Featured Sites" links displayed on our main web site. 1000s per month!
   
   
9. You'll earn recurring monthly commissions paid DAILY each time someone in your downline upgrades to Pro, or renews their upgrade. You can request a commission payment any time you are owed $30 or more! The monthly commissions you'll earn are as follows:
   
   Level 1 - $5 Level 2 - $4 Level 3 - $3 Level 4 - $2 Level 5 - $1
   
   
10. You'll be able to promote an unlimited number of URLs - not just 10.
    
    
11. Your URLs will receive priority review and approval status.
    
    
12. As a Pro user you'll also receive priority customer support.
    
    
13. Bonus Business Tools You'll receive access to special bonuses at no extra charge to help you with all aspects of growing your online business. Simply login to your account and go to the section "Bonus!" at your Members Page to see what is currently available. (Note: While there is a "Bonus!" section for Free users, you'll receive extra items not listed for Free accounts as a PRO user.)
    
    

So how much does the Pro upgrade cost?

The cost of upgrading to Pro is only $30 per month! As shown in the answer to the next question, all of the benefits listed above have a retail value of at least for the average user - not to mention you could easily earn more than enough to pay for your upgrade just by referring a few people.

How do I upgrade to Pro and get started?

Upgrading to a Pro account takes just 2 minutes. Just login to your account and click the Upgrade link, and you'll instantly receive 5,000 credits and all the other benefits described above!

We have determined that, to our "average" user, the benefits of a Pro upgrade have a value of about $75. If you don't use your Surf Page much and/or never refer any other users it may be worth less to you, but on the other hand if you do both of these things it could be worth a lot more. Either way, just 2 of the benefits that don't require you to do anything at all are worth more than the $30 monthly fee.

Here are a few facts and examples to help you decide if upgrading to Pro is worthwhile ...

Benefit #1 means you automatically get 1,000 credits each month. This has a well-established value of $15 per month, as our $30 credit package includes 2,000 credits and sells like hot-cakes.

Benefit #2 is a free marketing/advertising related product that is guaranteed to be currently selling on the web for at least $30. So the absolute minimum value of this benefit is $30.

Benefit #3 gives you 1 extra bonus credit each time you click on links on your Surf Page or in the Search Engine results. If you are like our average user who clicks only 15.2 times per day this has a value of about $7.50 per month. If you click 100 times per day, this is worth over $50 per month!

Benefit #4 gives you 1 bonus credit each time one of your personally referred users clicks on links on their Surf Page or in the Search Engine results. If you are like our average user who has personally referred only 4 other users, and those 4 users click an average of 15.2 times per day, this has a retail value of almost $30 to you. Some people have referred 100s and even 1000s of other users ... you can do the math.

Benefit #5 gives you and all other Pro users an equal share of all the "Featured Sites" link displays on our main site. This is hard to put a value on because our traffic and the number of Pro users will fluctuate on a daily basis. With that being said, we are currently displaying about 250,000 featured links per day on our main site, and our traffic is actually growing faster than the number of new Pro sign-ups, so this benefit should increase in value over time. This is easily worth a minimum of $20 per month.

Benefit #6 allows you to earn commissions when those in your downline upgrade to Pro. Obviously we can't tell you what this is worth because it depends on the number of active users you refer, and what percentage of them upgrade to Pro. With that being said, we don't see how anyone who puts forth just a little effort could NOT earn at least enough to pay for their own Pro upgrade.

Some people will easily earn 100s or 1000s of dollars per month - it's up to you!

You can request a commission payment at any time as long as you are owed at least $30. Just login to your account and click the "Request Commissions" link, and your request will be processed within 24 hours (usually just a few during regular business hours). You can select to receive your commission payment via PayPal or an old-fashioned check in the mail.

Your Pro subscription will automatically renew each month unless you cancel your subscription prior to the expiration of your subscription term. Renewals are billed 1 day after your prior term expires.

For example, if you purchase a 1 month subscription on July 30, your initial subscription term will expire on August 30, and you will be charged the automatic renewal rate on August 31.

Thereafter, you will be charged on the same day each month unless that particular day does not occur in a given month, in which case you will be charged on the first day of the following month. In this example, the next renewal payment would be on October 1 because there are not 31 days in September.

Thereafter, payments would occur on the first day of each month.

If a renewal payment fails, you'll receive an email notification and our billing system will attempt to re-try your payment once per day for the next 3 days. If we are still unable to process your renewal payment after the 4th attempt, your account will be automatically downgraded to a standard "free" account. Once you figure out why your credit card is not accepting the charge, you can upgrade again.

You can cancel your Pro upgrade at any time - just email support at customersupport@trafficswarm.com with your user id and request to cancel your upgraded account. You will no longer be charged, and you will continue to enjoy the benefits of your Pro account until the end of your current term when your account will be downgraded.

There are no refunds after you upgrade to Pro, except in the unlikely event that our system malfunctions and we are unable to deliver what you purchased. If you cancel your Pro subscription you will no longer be charged, and your Pro subscription will automatically expire at the end of your current term.

If you have any type of problem, billing dispute, etc. you should simply contact us and we will resolve the situation in a way that is satisfactory to you. Pro users receive special "priority support" and all support requests are answered promptly - usually within just a few hours.

TrafficSwarm Pro users receive priority support, and we treat all customers fairly - as we have been doing for years. We have an extremely good relationship with our merchant account providers, because we have 1000s of satisfied customers. If you ever have a "problem" all you need to do is contact us.

There will NEVER be a legitimate reason to file a chargeback request with your credit card company.

If you file a complaint or chargeback request against TrafficSwarm, we will provide the bank with all of the information that we have about you, your account, your activities, and your Pro subscription. They will decide how to handle your complaint or chargeback request - it's entirely up to them.

One thing that's for certain though is that we will immediately delete your TrafficSwarm account, you will lose any earned commissions, you will lose your downline, you and your URLs will be forever banned from TrafficSwarm, and we will share what we know about you with our marketing partners.

If you enter a valid User ID and Password but are unable to login, there are only 2 possible explanations - either you don't have Cookies enabled in your browser, or you have a problem with your browser/computer.

Make sure that you have Cookies enabled in your browser (and be sure to accept the TrafficSwarm cookie if prompted), try clearing your browser's Cache, restarting your browser, restarting your computer, etc. Beyond that we can't be of much help, because it's not a problem on our end.

On the other hand, if you can't remember your User ID and/or Password just visit the Login page and request that it be sent to you.

It is VERY important to keep your account updated with a valid and working email address, because that's how we send out most of the urgent and/or important announcements you need to be aware of.

Plus, we often make special offers, give away free stuff, etc. ... but when we do this it is NOT posted anywhere on the website so if we don't have your valid email address you won't even hear about it.

We have an internal policy of never sending more than 2 emails per month to our users, and stick to it religiously. We won't bombard you with emails like so many other sites do, so you have nothing to worry about. For more detailed information, please see our Privacy Policy.

In order to receive your 100 FREE bonus credits, you need to "activate" your account. It's simple, fun, and can be done in less than 5-10 minutes. For more details on how to activate your account, see the related question in this section.

An activated account is one which has earned a minimum of 50 credits. So to "activate" your account and receive your 100 bonus credits, just do any one or more of the following to earn at least 50 credits.

• Load your TrafficSwarm Surf Page (1 credit each time you load it)
  
  
• Click on links on your Surf Page (1-1,000 credits for each click)
  
  
• Use the TrafficSwarm Search Engine (1-1,000 credits for each click)
  
  
• Refer another "activated" user (100 credits for each that you refer)
  
  
• Purchasing credits will also activate your account (any amount)
  
  

Once you have accumulated at least 50 credits your account will be "activated" within 4 hours, and you'll receive your bonus credits.

Activating your account is simple and fun, and helps us to reduce cheating. By giving away bonuses only to those who are actually using TrafficSwarm, we ensure that those who deserve it the most get the best results.

You can view your "real-time" stats at any time by logging in to your account. These stats show you where your credits are coming from, how many users you've referred, how many times your link(s) have been shown, etc. Here's an overview and explanation of the stats available ...

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Credits Owed: This is the number of total credits you've earned minus the number of times your link(s) have already been displayed and the number of credits that you have transferred out of your account, if any.

This is how many times your link will be displayed in the near future.

Note: For highly technical reasons, every now and then the system may display your link(s) a few more times than you're actually owed - temporarily resulting in a negative credit balance. Although rare, this is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

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Links Displayed: This is the number of times that links to your site(s) have already been displayed throughout the TrafficSwarm network. "Deleted" refers to URLs that you have since deleted from your control panel.

Transferred Out: This is the number of credits, if any, that you have transferred out of the account into any other TrafficSwarm account.

Lottery Tickets: This is the number of Lottery tickets you've "purchased".

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Total Credits: This is the total number of credits you have earned and/or purchased overall. This figure will always equal the total of the 3 numbers displayed above (unless you have a very active account - see below).

Note: If you have a very active account it is possible that Total Credits and the 3 numbers displayed above won't always be exactly equal. This is because there are so many changes being made to your account at all times, and depending on exactly when you load your stats page it's normal for the numbers displayed to be off by a few credits either way.

Account Loads: This is the number of credits that you have personally earned from loading your TrafficSwarm Surf Page, and from visitors to your site viewing the TrafficSwarm Exit Page that you added (no longer available).

Note: This does NOT indicate the total number of times your page(s) were loaded, but rather, the number of times they were loaded and you earned a credit. Remember, you earn a maximum of 30 credits per day just for loading your Surf Page, without clicking any links.

Referral Loads: This is the number of credits that you have earned from people that you have referred to TrafficSwarm. For each person referred you receive 100% of their personally earned credits, 5 levels deep.

Account Clicks: This is the number of credits that you have earned from personally clicking on other users' links on your Surf Page, in the search engine, etc. (Note: This also includes any credits you earned from clicks on your Exit Page if you used it while it was available).

Bonus Clicks: This is the number of bonus credits you have earned from clicking on other users' links on your Surf Page, in the search engine, etc. (Applies only to Pro accounts)

Referral Clicks: This is the number of bonus credits you have earned from your personally referred users clicking on links on their Surf Page, in the search engine, etc. (Applies only to Pro accounts)

Transferred In: This is the number of credits that other users have transferred to you.

Lottery Wins: This is the number of credits you've won in the Lottery.

Purchased: This is the number of credits, if any, you've purchased.

Freebies: This is the number of free credits that you have earned for referring other users who have activated their account, participating in various promotions, etc. And sometimes we'll even give you a few freebies for nothing other than the fact that you're using TrafficSwarm!

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Total Downline: This is the total number of users in your "downline", 5 levels deep. Users on Level 1 are those that you personally referred, Users on Level 2 are those that were referred by those on Level 1, etc.

"Non-Activated" referrals are those that you have personally referred (they are included in the Users on Level 1 figure) who have not yet activated their account. They are a part of your downline and you will earn credits when they open their browser, etc. you just haven't yet earned 100 bonus credits for referring them because they haven't activated their account yet.

There are many variations of this question, but they all boil down to a user not quite understanding how the TrafficSwarm system works. Most likely you are confusing "links displayed" with actual visitors to your website.

Here's a simple example. When your link is displayed 100 times, you will receive anywhere from 0 to 100 actual visitors to your site. For the most part it depends on the quality of your title and description, which determines the percentage of users who click your link to visit your site.

If you feel your link is not being clicked often enough based on the number of times it is being displayed, we suggest testing various titles and descriptions to find one that works better. Keep in mind, users are presented with 6 links, and some people just won't be interested in what you're promoting.

Cancelling your TrafficSwarm account is very easy. Simply Login to your account and click the "Cancel Account" link, fill in your Username and Password, and your account will be cancelled immediately. (You can also click the "Cancel Account" link at the bottom of any page of this site.)

If you have set your browser's Surf Page to TrafficSwarm you can also reset your Surf Page to any other URL of your choice. For help with changing your Surf Page just select "Help" at the top of your browser window.

That's a great question, and we're glad you asked - because once you learn the difference you'll understand why the "visitors" you receive from "auto surf" or "rotator" programs have literally no value whatsoever.

Here's an example of the unfortunately common, and faulty, reasoning behind "auto surf" programs. This was an actual email that we received:

"I have two different services like yours that automatically surf for me. All I have to do is open the browser to their site then I can minimize the window and go about doing what I need to do. In return, I get visitors to my site automatically."

What this person doesn't seem to realize is that the "visitors" he's getting to his site via his favorite automated surf program are absolutely worthless - the same way that his automated "visit" to their sites is worthless to them.

The simple fact of the matter is that, as he mentioned, people that use "auto surf" or "rotator" programs just set the system in motion and go off to do other things. They don't even look at the sites they are presented with.

And that is the bottom line with these types of programs - no one actually looks at your website! If anything, the only ones who benefit from these types of automated programs are the sites that run them - not the users.

In short, don't fall for the "auto surf" rotator scam. It's just a big waste of time and resources. Join a real traffic exchange like TrafficSwarm - where people click to your site because they're interested in your offer.

Despite the fact that most people who use these types of programs simply set them in motion and then don't even look at the sites that rotate in their browser, a small percentage of people do.

Thus, they *could* be helpful in referring new users to TrafficSwarm.

If you want to do so, we have no problem with you promoting your Referral URL via any "auto surf" or "rotator" system you want. Who knows - you may end up referring someone who goes on to refer another 500 users.

Just remember, you may NOT promote your Surf Page URL via any "auto surf" or "rotator" system. Period. Our system can easily detect this and will automatically delete any user who is doing so.

You may NOT under any circumstance use any type of system that loads your Surf Page or any other TrafficSwarm URL automatically. This includes, but is not limited to, any web browser software function to load web pages automatically, automated scripts or software, etc.

Automatically loading any TrafficSwarm page goes directly against our primary objective of generating real, targeted traffic to our users' sites.

Our system can easily detect pages that are being loaded automatically, or "clicks" that are being simulated via automated methods. Once detected, the account in question will be automatically deleted without warning.

Most definitely, and thanks for asking. The policy is very simple ...

The only URL you are allowed to promote via "auto surf" or "rotator" programs, or any other automated means, is your Referral URL that is used to refer new users to the TrafficSwarm.com website.

You may NOT use them to promote your Surf Page or any other URLs - because it wastes other users' hard-earned credits and we can't have that.

Any user who promotes anything other than their Referral URL via these types of programs will find their account automated deleted.