AllAdvantage to close UK doors
The UK office of AllAdvantage, the pay-to-surf Web company, has closed its doors as a business-to-consumer (B2C) operator and plans to reopen as a business-to-business (B2B) technology specialist.
The closure comes almost two years after AllAdvantage entered the UK and 18 months after it established a specific UK offering (AllAdvantage.co.uk).
The company’s business model attracted a lot of interest – and customers – and fuelled the belief that dot-coms could generate income in radically new ways to traditional businesses.
Users of AllAdvantage had to download software to their desktop, which placed AllAdvantage-sourced ads beneath their Web browser. The software noted how much time the user spent online and rewarded them with points, which were redeemable for cash.
Users could also accrue points for time spent online by people they had recruited to the scheme. This worked in a classic pyramid selling structure, which meant there were tales of AllAdvantage users – mainly in the US – making a sizeable monthly income from it.
Richard Mergler, director of sales in the UK, says there were “some substantial referral trees” in the UK.
He adds:”In rewarding people to surf we were perhaps a bit before our time. Maybe paying out cash was not the best model to pursue straight away.
“I believe in the concept and think psychographic customer profiling is the way forward online. This kind of contract between a marketer and the consumer is a very valuable one.”
The UK operation, which had 350,000 members, has this week laid off most of its staff and is awaiting further instructions from the US.
Mergler, who is undecided about his own future, says: “The team I built here was from traditional media. The new team will have to reflect a more technology-focused product.”
