The system of filling in online surveys in return for money is one that has increased in terms of popularity and sophistication over the last few years. Once upon a time it was a simple process of:
1. Fill in the survey
2. Receive a voucher by post or e-mail.
And that was it. Naturally this did not attract a mass market, as vouchers have their own problems. Generally, these vouchers did not cover the full price of large-value products, so you would have to spend a significant amount to turn them into anything tangible.
The online survey has developed as a result, to bring in more people, and the most important upshot has been to give consumers a chance to earn actual money that they could use anywhere. The kind of person who will fill in a survey to win a voucher for a crate of a specific beer is the kind of person who already likes that beer. The company learns little from their feedback, except knowing where their existing customers are. They want to know more about where they can create new customers.
To find this out, they will pose surveys which ask questions that will gain more specific answers. This information is more valuable to them, and they will pay for it – this money then goes to the survey hosting site who will, eventually, pass it on to the survey participants. One survey will not pay that much, so typically the money is paid by cheque, after a significant amount has been accumulated by the participant.