Gener8 review: Why it’s a bit of a letdown

Can you earn rewards just by surfing the internet? Take a look at my Gener8 review to see if it really is a safe way to earn and why although it’s good in theory, it does come with a few frustrations.

Gener8

One of my favourite ways to make money is passively… by that, I mean doing as little as possible. I recently joined Honeygain, which pays you when you use your internet. And although it’s a simple enough process, it’s not a big payer. So, I’ve had to look at other money-making ways. This time, I’m taking a look at ads.

Love them or hate them ads have become a necessary part of life. It’s how many companies and publications can cover their costs. For example, I have ads on my site. Not because I like them but because I have to pay Lyrical Host monthly to host my content. It’s not cheap, so having ads helps to cover the cost.

If you’re a TV fan, you may have even seen a company called Gener8 pitch to investors on Dragons’ Den, clearly impressing the panel and securing an investment of £60,000. So today, I’m going to share with you my experience.

What is Gener8?

Simply put, Gener8 is an ads company. They will show you adverts when you browse the internet. But instead of keeping all of the advertising revenue themselves, they’ll pass some of it back to you.

Is it safe?

This is a strange one, as Gener8 actually works a little differently from other online services. Whereas many companies are keen to track your internet usage, their extension can stop this tracking from happening.

Of course, adding any kind of extension to your computer has to come with some trust. And you can never be 100% sure what a company does with your data, no matter what they say. *cough* Facebook *cough*. But after three years of using Gener8, I’ve not had any issues. However, I always recommend that keep all your antivirus software up-to-date.

Gener8 Ads Limited is registered in England and Wales under company number 10903332 and has a registered office at 70 Wilson Street, London, EC2A 2DB. 

How does Gener8 make money?

When you join Gener8, you let them know your likes and interests. Then, Gener8 will show you ads from companies that fit your preferences. In turn, these companies will give Gener8 money. It’s claimed that you’ll earn 80% of this income, whilst Gener8 will take a 20% cut.

Gener8 also earns income through referrals. In the marketplace, you’ll notice points can be traded for product trials. If you sign-up for these, Gener8 will earn a small fee.

How do I use Gener8?

All you need to do is sign up and download an extension to your web browser – either Firefox or Chrome. And each time you see a Gener8 advert, you earn points. Once you earn enough points, you can exchange them for rewards from the Gener8 marketplace.

But there are a few other steps you can take if you want to boost your earnings.

Gener8 browser

If you don’t fancy adding an extension to your current web browser, you could download Gener8’s very own browser. It’s very similar to Firefox, although I found it a little slower. In the top right of the browser, it will tell you how many trackers ads have been blocked.

However, it doesn’t appear that you’ll earn any more points using this browser compared to using the extension on Firefox or Chrome.

Gener8 app

Available for both Apple and Android, you can connect the Gener8 app to your chosen mobile browser. It will take less than a minute to do and you can start to earn points when you’re out and about.

Receipt Radar

You may like to share with Gener8 the purchases that you make in exchange for points. But to do this, you will need to link your email address and allow Gener8 access to read these emails.

Gener8 referral

You can refer your friends and family by sending them your unique code. You’ll earn 50 points when your first friend joins and 10 points for every friend after that.

Reviews

Leave a review on Google and follow Gener8 on social media, send them a screenshot and they’ll reward you with some bonus points.

How much are Gener8 points worth?

Points aren’t currently set with an exact value. But if you use Amazon vouchers as a comparable value, they work out at:

• 10 points = £1
• 50 points = £5
• 100 points = £10

The Gener8 Marketplace – what’s available?

The most common reward you’ll see on the marketplace are “exclusive rewards”. These will give you discounts or free trials of services. They usually cost just five points.

Next comes gift cards. They are for stores like Amazon, Uber, Just Eat, Greegs and Tesco. A £10 gift card, depending on the shop, will cost between 100 and 150 points.

Finally, there are auctions. These are for more expensive items like wireless earbuds, Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Google Chromecasts, Google Nest Minis, and Amazon Echo dots and game consoles.

I have seen the winning bidder pay over 40,000 points for a brand-new PS5.

The good

In theory, this is a very easy way to earn with little effort. Signing up and downloading the extension is easy, even if you aren’t technically minded.

The extension is fairly customisable. It gives you the option not to show ads on certain pages. So, if you find that Gener8 is causing issues when you visit a certain site, you can just turn it off.

You can also install Gener8 Tabs. This extension allows you to see a new advert whenever you open a new tab on your browser.

The bad

One of the things that put me off is the fact you need to add an extension to your browser. The more extensions you have, the slower your browser becomes and the longer it takes to surf the internet.

I used both a Mac (around two years old) and a Dell laptop (around ten years old). With the extension added, my Mac worked fine, but my Dell slowed down tremendously when browsing sites with a lot of adverts.

The claimed pay seems fairly good. The average user should earn 5-10 points per day. Needing 100 points to earn £9.99, means most of us would earn between £15-£30 per month.

But after using the extension for several months, 5-10 points per day seemed a little too optimistic. I had earned 140 points – an average of 2-3 per day.

And then to the marketplace. Trading your points can be quite difficult. Gift cards have limited availability. For example, there may only be 30 cards available every few days. This makes them very difficult to get hold of as everybody else is trying. And the auctions for one-off items tend to go for well over 3,000 points, making them out of reach for casual users.

And the “exclusive rewards” are anything but. These offers are available anywhere, so it’s a waste to swap your points for them.

My Gener8 review conclusion

Do you know, I can live with only earning between £5 – £10 per month from this site? After all, it takes hardly any effort and extra income is always welcome.

But it is frustrating that gifts are still very limited, even though the site has been running for a few years. I have been trying desperately to get my hands on a £3 Amazon gift card. And although it says there are 180 available, they go within a second. I’ve got quite a few points now and they aren’t worth anything if I can’t cash them in.

And another word of warning… if you have an older computer that struggles to load internet pages at the best of times, this isn’t an extension that you’ll get along with.

If you want to try it yourself, press the button below. We will be rewarded with ten tokens after you have earned your first one.

Gener8

If my Gener8 Ads review hasn’t convinced you, why not look at other ways to make money on the side or see some other passive income ideas?

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