Facebook Pixel
Join our Facebook Community

AGLOCO – First Impressions

Posted By Darren Rowse 6th of February 2007 Pro Blogging News 0 Comments

AglocoOver the last few weeks I’ve been getting more and emails from people askine me for my opinion on AGLOCO (refferral link).

To be perfectly honest the first few times I heard about it I didn’t think much.

The second few times I thought it was some sort of pyramid scheme or spyware scam.

But in the last week or so a few people that I respect have started recommending I check it out as a potential way to earn an extra income stream online. Most of them told me about it with a few reservations (there’s a lot of hype about it out there too) but told me that they thought it was something that could have potential as an income earner for bloggers.

So today I signed up to check it out for myself. I’m still a little perplexed about it and feeling my way with it so take this as a very initial first impression review (it’s hard to do anything else at this stage as it’s in such early days).

Agloco isn’t the easiest concept in the world to explain (I’ll let you get all the ins and outs at their site) however from what I’ve gathered so far it brings together a variety of online activities:

  • social networking
  • referral program
  • online shopping
  • toolbars
  • Software downloading

Here’s a diagram that they use to attempt to explain it (click to enlarge):

Image Gallery

My first impressions:

I still have some questions about Agloco – but am quietly interested about it’s potential:

• My concerns over spyware via their ‘Viewbar’ should probably be alleviated by their explanations and assurances that it’s not – but without actually having access to it (it’s in beta) I’m not sure

• I guess the ‘beta/pre launch’ nature of it leave me with a variety of questions. At the moment it just seems to be a lot of promises. Don’t get me wrong – the promises seem great and I like a lot of what I see – but I’m the kind of guy who likes to see a product before getting too excited.

• I think the basic concept is pretty interesting and I can see why a lot of key web types are getting behind it. I can also see why there is a lot of hype by internet marketers about it.

I’ve talked to a number of others about it today and the reviews are mixed. Some still think it’s a pyramid scheme (although others who used to think this are being won over by the caliber of the names behind it) – but others are reserving judgement but are quietly experimenting with it and watching on too.

I’m going to withhold my judgement on AGLOCO until I see more of what it is and how it develops – but I think it’s an interesting concept that is worth keeping an eye on and that it’s one of those things that would probably be worth getting in on early if you’re going to benefit from the referrals system – something bloggers are ideally situated to do.

I would invite your reflections upon AGLOCO – particularly if you’re a member. What do you think about it?

update: Robert Scoble has a good interview with AGLOCO’s founders here.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. […] A bit shady, isn’t it? But the thing is, you don’t have to invest anything to use this program and you could be making money off of it. I’ve seen more and more famous web entrepreneurs like Darren Rowse from Problogger or Matt Marshall from VentureBeat recommanding it out as a potential way to earn some extra bucks online. And early adopters will have the advantage of having already built up a large network of users before it becomes something big, if that ever happens. […]

  2. […] This chain of events got started when Darren posted about his initial investigation/sigh-up with AGLOCO back on 5 Feb 07.  I posted this somewhat pointed reply: Dave Starr Says: February 6th, 2007 at 12:14 pm […]

  3. @ John Chow,

    Hi John, hope you’re back from killing panadas. I can’t take up all the space here to properly deal with this so I posted about it in my personal space at. http://www.talarsystems.com, if Darren will indulge us taking the issue eleswhere.

    You’re more than welcome to come visit and talk this over, I’ve found quite a few things about AGLOCO™ that a few people might want to learn more about, or even correct any mis-apprehensions I might have.

    But you are certainly right about one thing … jobs are the biggest pyramid schemes, that;’s why i don’t have one and haven’t had one for years.

    be well

  4. […] I saw a comment about this in John’s most recent AGLOCO post (6,000 signups) and have also seen it on a couple forums, IRC, and IM as well. It’s true a couple A-listers (gogo gogo) have expressed their doubts or outright disapproval of AGLOCO. That’s fine. These guys have taken what little knowledge they have on the subject (none of us have any real knowledge on AGLOCO at this point) and formed their own opinion. At the same time a lot of A-listers have also shown big support for AGLOCO. How do you pick and choose which A-lister to believe when (no offense) many of these guys didn’t even have names for themselves when the AA craze was at its peak? […]

  5. I think AGLOCO has great potential, and am glad I signed up. AGLOCO has some great people behind it and the whole design definitely has a chance to offer something that the member’s might actually use.

    I signed up for AGLOCO at the beginning of February, and created a blog about it at the same time. I’m learning about blogging, marketing, and other stuff about the net, and hopefully will earn something off of it all in the end.

    Check out my AGLOCO Blog if you like things a bit salty.

  6. I’ve joined AGLOCO and setup my local language website which is “www.AglocoThailand.com”.
    There are many questions regarding “Does Agloco is real?” and “Can we trust Agloco?”.
    As my friends have been faced unimpression of many internet marketing.
    It would be good if Agloco can show us the real case that’s true.
    Then we can spread this idea widely.

  7. I am the king of skeptics about “make money for doing nothing” schemes, so I did not initially believe in agloco at all, but after doing a lot of research and seeing some of the high profile bloggers that put their support behind it, I think that at worst, signing up will waste the 30 seconds it takes to fill out the form. At best, this could be wildly successful.

    I had a hard time motivating myself to build a network even then, which is why I decided to donate 50% of whatever I make to charity. I suggest others of you out there do the same. It feels good to know that my efforts to build a large network will have some benefits for the greater good.

  8. I am waiting for the viewbar.

  9. I now have 20 direct referrals and 630 extended referrals. I too am hesitant to tell everyone in this pre-launch phase, but once the toolbar is released and I can see that it works, I will market Agloco more heavily.

  10. yes, bring on the toolbar!

  11. They promised the toolbar long time ago, does anyone have some news about it? I got an e-mail in which said it was to be released soon, but I have doubts about that!

    http://makemoneywithkassper.blogspot.com

  12. Finally they released its viewbar, but the main site still isnt stable. Hard to sign-up ppl under this situation…

  13. I smell a rat guys,
    I was just about to sign up when I saw this in the FAQ:
    “As a profit-seeking venture, the value of the shares will be directly related to the value of the company”
    2 things: u wont be earning money, you will be earning shares. Also, if you have 2000 dollars earned, and the company goes bust, doesnt that mean your 2000 dollars will never be seen?

    Dave
    http://www.davesblogidge.com – please vist and help a new blogger become more inspired to blog.

  14. Nathan# says: 09/20/2007 at 8:01 am

    Well I would agree that there is money to be made, but if you look at this in a purely economic way it becomes obvious that very few people will manage to make a decent amount.

    Its a simple fact that advertising (even targeted advertising like google) pays next to nothing for a single click.

    The reason webmasters make money is because thousands of people are seeing and clicking adverts, but all of the revenue is going to one person.

    With agloco, the revenue is shared between millions (hence the $12 dollar average payout with aa). Agloco is no more likely to generate ad revenue than a conventional web advertiser, and the people at the bottom of the pile will quickly grow bored of the constant advertising bombardment when they realise they are only going to earn a dollar a day.

    Great idea and innovation, some people will get rich, but unless you can be confident that you can climb to the top, don’t waste your time.

  15. great info.nice post as usual

A Practical Podcast… to Help You Build a Better Blog

The ProBlogger Podcast

A Practical Podcast…

Close
Open