ciao.co.uk > Reviews (1008)

This is one of the most exhausting reviews I have ever written . . . but I felt I had to write it because although many people have recently written reviews about ciao.co.uk, I felt that they had misrepresented our site! Most of these reviews have pictured it as the “Diablo’s” site, which is untrue. This site has been, and still is, one of the leading review sites for consumers to read reviews to help them make up their minds about a product . . . whether to buy or not to buy.

I have decided to clear the mess and the misunderstanding about this site and point out the good side and the dark side; therefore, the rest is left for you to decide whether to love it or hate it!

This review will include not only my personal views and opinion but it will be full of useful information for people who want to join this site but don’t like reading the small print! So you can save it in your “Favourites” and come back for a quick look at anytime if you have a question about this site! It’s like a “member’s guide to Ciao-land!” So if you are interested, follow me and let us explore the magical world of Ciao!

Ami and Ciao . . . the true story . . .

Once upon a time (well, two years ago. . .) a very bored and lonely girl was searching the net, looking as usual for bargains and freebies: the girl’s name was Ami!

One day, while she was looking at one of the freebie sites, she found an ad for ciao.co.uk paying £5 per review! (This was a down right lie!) She was stunned, clicked on the link and saw the landing page. She browsed the pages and skimmed through the categories but she wasn’t really interested and to be honest . . . she didn’t know much about reviews so she didn’t worry about the layout or community pages. All that she wanted was to find the surveys. So she joined ciao.co.uk and from this moment onwards she became a loyal ciao member! Of course, you realise that girl was me.

The site

It took me almost two months to recognise the site and learn about writing reviews. As I said my main concern had been the surveys (they used to pay better in these days) so I logged in every few days to check my balance from filling out those surveys which came to my e-mail address (in those days the survey earnings were combined with those from the reviews).

One day when I was checking for my earnings I noticed there were members posting reviews which changed every few minutes. I wasn’t so sure about writing a review myself as my English wasn’t that perfect and I had never written a review before, but after thinking hard I came to a decision . . . why not try? I was jobless, bored and had nothing to lose; it wouldn’t hurt me; maybe it would be fun? Consequently I “gave it a go” and wrote my first review.

After few months of ups and downs (and a few rows with members . . . lol) I started to learn more about this CIAO WORLD and I discovered the Guestbooks or GB and many more features . . .

Gradually, I started to like this site with its good points and bad, and started to enjoy every minute of it!

Day after day, my writings improved and I learned a lot; then I discovered the “ciao community” which has become a part of my life . . . talking with members; having virtual friends: most members are nice and supportive, while others are as bad as a rotten apple!

After two years I have decided to share my experience with you, hopefully you will like it as much I do!

I will go with you step by step, explaining everything about ciao.co.uk as I understand it. Of course this is clearly my opinion but hopefully you will agree with me and become a regular member if you are not already.

Ciao!

Ciao is an online website where you can read reviews and compare prices for millions of products. It was founded in the year 2000 and is mainly within Europe: Germany, UK, France, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands but in 2008 they also launched www.ciao.com (as a Beta, or trial, version in the USA); I have heard a lot about this site, but mostly, the reports were not encouraging! Ciao was taken over by Greenfield Online for its surveys, which are now totally included in a separate website (since May 2008), and again by the Microsoft Company in August 2008.

The idea behind ciao

As I said it’s a price comparison site so the consumer can search for the best price for the products he wants to look for and in addition he can read reviews, therefore he having a clearer idea about what to expect from it.
These reviews (about which I will talk more, later) are organised in order of usefulness to the consumer as rated by other ciao members.

ciao.co.uk

The home page (landing page)

Basically, this is a very basic white home page but very organised. You can find on the right hand top side of the page three main icons

• Join ciao (new members who want to join)

• Login ciao (existed members)

• Help (which includes very useful info about the site and how it works and everything else you want to know before you join)

• The main page contains the search bar so you can enter the product(s) you want to search. Also you see the categories available to search; or you can search ciao lists, the community, ciao hit lists and the most popular searches as well if you are just at a loose end.

Registration

Very easy and free to register, once you click on the join ciao link it will take you straight to the registration page.

Here you will find very simple and basic questions like any other form you fill online: name, address, and email. Once you have completed the registration form and submit the form, a link will be sent to your e-mail address with an activation code. When you click the link instantly you will become a member and will re-enter the main home page: this time with a greeting to you as your chosen username; this time you have your own member page (link at top of page to ‘My Ciao’).

Main features

Layout

I like the layout, with its organised, colourful pages, good sized fonts and easy to navigate. The only downsides are pop-ups and flashing ads which can be annoying and frequently are slowing down the pages.

Ciao categories

• Appliances
• Books
• Camera
• Cars
• Computer
• Electronics
• DVDs
• Music
• Phones
• Travel
• More . . . including food and drink, beauty and a lot more

My Ciao

This is the most important icon on ciao. It will take you straight into your member page, where all your reviews are listed . . . and from here the adventure begins! I will discuss the three types of reviews in more detail later.

• Member image (picture)

It’s optional, you can have your photo displayed or not. You can change it anytime, as long as your picture meets the guidelines.

• Member details

Again it is optional, you can enter personal details and let them either be displayed for the public, or you can hide them if you like your privacy.

• About me

Not much space here but you can write in summary about you and your interests or anything else you wanted. The text cannot exceed 255 characters (30 - 40 words) and you can’t advertise for a website or a product.

• Settings

You can add or delete any of your personal info, including bank account , email setting, passwords and even cancelling your membership which I never consider doing! Here, too, you set ‘alerts’ if you want to have e-mails when people write reviews, rate, or message you. Me, I don’t do alerts.

• Ciao lists

I dislike ciao lists, as you can get rates and comments on them but no payment. You add your favourite items and products to your own personal lists.

• Profile

This section used to contain all your personal information and your interests for survey purposes. Now it provides a link to the new survey site. The Ciao-surveys website uses the same username and password as your main account. I will discuss surveys again later as well.

• Account

The most important section in my opinion as it contains the record of your earnings: the credits you have earned; balances (old and new) and ‘payment transaction’. From this section you ask for your money to be transferred to your UK bank account at any time after the balance exceeds £5.00.

• Payment

You are only paid for positive ratings. Not all reviews are paying reviews so keep in mind when writing a review to look for £ sign. The different rates of remuneration are indicated by pound signs which appear next to the name of the product on the product overview page when you have logged in. These symbols are not visible from any of the other product views. Occasionally you will see [£] on Café products, but, just like the additional criteria which imply that the challenge is either a CD or a DVD, these do not mean anything.

You will get paid 0.5p per [£] rating; 1p per [£][£] rating; or 2p per [£][£][£] rating.

• Requesting payment

You can ask for payment at anytime after your account reaching the £5 balance. The payment process is started immediately and you will see your new balance the next day BUT the payment is actually processed once every month (not at the same time each month) and it can take weeks for payments to be “initiated” and then transferred into your bank account up to 21 days after that.

• Personal home page

Home pages never interest me: I hardly read any one else’s home page! But if you are feeling creative and want people to know more about you then go for it!

• Statistics

It is a very useful feature to ciao members to read everything about each member’s activities: how many reviews have been written; how many rates given or received (and percentage of which rates); what type of comments they write; who trusts this member’s reviews, and mutual trust as well. From here you can decide if this member is an active member and if he/she gives as much as they receive. This also indicates how many community points the member has received and for which activities.

• Community points

Along with earning pounds you can also earn community points. You get points for positive ratings received and lose points for negative ratings. A ‘Helpful’ rating gains you +3 points, and you receive +6 points for an ‘Exceptional’ or ‘Very Helpful’ rating. ‘Off Topic’ or ‘Not Helpful’ loses -12 points, while ‘Somewhat Helpful’ loses -6 points. You earn 1 point for rating any review and +3 for each comment. When you submit a Standard or Video review you get +30 points; a Quick Review published or a list begun earns +3points; when some one adds you or removes you from their ‘buddies’ you get +80 points or -80 points. Look at a Statistics page to understand this . . . The more points you get the higher your community level rises, showing your commitment to the site and your contributions as well.

• Community level

You will see next to your username a certain coloured dot. The coloured dot next to your name shows which of the 10 Community Levels you have attained.

• Level 1: white: 1 - 1000 points
• Level 2: green: 1001 - 5000 points
• Level 3: blue: 5001 - 10000 points
• Level 4: violet: 10,001 – 20,000 points
• Level 5: red: 20,001 – 50,000 points
• Level 6: orange: 50,001 – 100,000 points
• Level 7: bronze: 100,001 – 250,000 points
• Level 8: silver: 250,001 – 500,000 points
• Level 9: gold: 500,001 – 5,000,000 points
• Level 10: black: over 5,000,000 points

You don’t get paid extra for getting to a higher level, but you may receive more ratings (and therefore more pennies) because you will be seen more the more active you are!

• Favourites

You can add your favourite categories, reviews and products. You can add and delete them anytime; also you can show your favourites to the public profile or choose to hide them.

• ‘Buddies’ or ‘circle of trust’ (commonly known as CoT)

Unlike some other websites you have limits! Only 100 members can be added to your CoT; you add or remove any member you want.

HOWEVER, a lot of people misunderstand the meaning of the CoT
I read a lot of members saying “Add me and I will add you” or “trust me and I will trust you” . . . sometimes they will add you to their CoT and then remove you; if and when you ask “Why?” their answer will be that you didn’t trust them back, or that you are not rating every single review they write!
CoT (or ‘circle of trust’) is completely different from this .

. .

Why do you ‘trust’ a member?

You don’t trust the individual “member” - you trust his/her reviews depending on how useful they are to you (and to consumers). I know some members who trust others simply because of their looks! Please, when adding someone to your CoT, bear in mind that you are trusting his/her reviews!

• Public Guestbook

One of my favourite features on ciao. This guestbook is visible to all members so be careful as some of them live on reading guestbook contents! I have to admit I’m such a chatter box and my guestbook is full and I keep clearing it every 10 minutes! You can communicate through your guestbook(s): asking members, thanking them for rates and a lot more . . . ciao community is a very friendly environment (well mostly). I’ve made a lot of friends through ciao and I’ve met a couple in real life (you know who you are).

You can leave the messages you receive, or remove them; you can answer any message in your GB by clicking the (answer comment) or by clicking through to the member’s name (it will take you to his profile page; then click guestbook tab). When someone replies ‘directly’ you can check what you wrote by clicking the ‘date and time’ of your message (this is highlighted).

• Private Guestbook (PGB)

It works exactly like the Public guestbook but this time it’s invisible to other members except the intended member so no one can read your private messages. Some people can misuse this feature and send very unsuitable or rude messages; others send advertisements, their personal phone numbers, email addresses etc. It keeps private conversations private.

• Auctions

Never used this before! If you are an eBay member you can list your items here for free, then they will appear in your public member profile whenever you want. You can remove these at any time.

Reviews

One of the main parts of ciao, a lot of consumers depend on good quality reviews to make the right decision.

Product Reviews posted will appear in the “most recent reviews” pages (the first 100 reviews over seven pages). They will be rated by other members who will rate them as Exceptional(E), Very Helpful(VH), Helpful(H), which are positive ratings, while Somewhat Helpful(SH), Not Helpful(NH) or Off Topic(OT) are negative ratings. Leaving a comment on a review is optional, unless you are giving an E, NH, OT or a rating which is more than one step away from the average rating (higher or lower) at which you are required to comment to explain your rating.
I have to say that most members rate fairly but some will revenge rate for many reasons which is very sad!

There are three kinds of reviews available on Ciao.

• Video reviews

A special kind of review: if you like shooting videos and are brave enough to TALK about a product into a camera, this is for you! It is a very unique feature in which you can express your opinion by sound and picture. I think it is very useful in travel reviews, hotel and restaurant reviews. This review can be rated and commented on by other members.

These pay the same as Standard Reviews: for ‘positive member ratings’ on ‘paying’ product reviews.

• Quick Reviews

A Quick Review was the type of review I wrote first after I joined Ciao.
You have to give a product or a service a rating star between 1-5 stars depending on the usefulness of this product, writing a minimum of 20 words and a maximum of 150 words saying your opinion. You don’t need a title or to summarise the advantages and disadvantages separately for a quick review. You don’t get any payment for a quick review (if you are wanting “quick money” then forget about it!).
They are rated either “thumbs-up” (H), giving +3 community points or “thumbs-down” (SH) giving -6 community points. Members cannot leave comments unless you update your Quick Review to a Standard review. You have the option to upgrade at any time, and are reminded every time you login when you first land on “My Ciao” (your home page).

• Standard reviews

When your review exceeds 120 words you are told you can make it into a Standard Review by filling in certain required fields and you will be paid for it (if it is a paying product review) or you can add a further few (up to 30) words to remain as a Quick Review.

In a Standard Review you can add formatting as well to make your review appear well presented. You can add paragraph breaks and headings. Also you can preview the review before publishing, edit, and (once you have a ‘green dot’ – signifying over 1000 community pts) add pictures to your review.

Once you post the review the process is irreversible: it will appear and be visible to members to rate. Hopefully it will show in the “new reviews” pages. If it is in a ‘paying category’ it will start to earn pennies as detailed above under “My Ciao” . . . If you are lucky enough to be the first one to write about the product you will get double the money for the first month or so!

• Rating a review

You rate each product review according to its usefulness to yourself or to a prospective buyer in selecting a product to purchase; not according to how much you like or dislike either the product/service or the personality of a member! A café review will be a more difficult decision, as a purchase is not expected, and will be more a decision of relevance to the topic and how it interests you. The guidelines appear every time you rate as your mouse floats over the ratings.

Member Centre

Any ciao member can access this feature once they are logged in; you can find (almost) anything you want to learn, read or ask about Ciao.

• Member search: Searching for any member you want to look for.

• Latest announcement: One announcement is featured in a box. All announcements: Read all the announcements made by ciao from the latest to the oldest which they think is still relevant.

• Ciao charts: With the most read reviews, products and charts for the week and since launching.

• Hit lists: Showing the newest reviews, quick reviews, diamonds, authors, products, lists and star videos; also the archives since launch, so you can retrieve any review, diamond review, star video or newsletter if you know the date you want.

• Ciao training: Reading the guidelines and answering the most frequent questions, along with ‘top tip’ reviews from members.

• Affiliate programme: Another way to earn money from ciao. You can Invite a friend and you will get paid when a friend you invite to join ciao writes their first review; you will also get paid for every paying rate your friend is getting for the first six months. Or you can Integrate a banner: If you have a website, you can put a Ciao banner on your website! You will be paid for everyone who joins ciao through your banner in a similar way.

• Contact: You can contact ciao team if you have technical problems, report abuse, or ask any other query about your membership.

• More …: Here you can find direct links to Top products without reviews and the Product of the week competition; as well as Ciao Café, and the Ciao Café - Current Issue competition.

Ciao Café

This is a non-payable category; you won’t get paid for anything written here except the monthly competition. But it’s a nice category where you can express your feelings and be creative. You can write absolutely anything from your personal experience: your life and achievements, poems, jokes, your beliefs; ‘member advice’ and lot more. Here you can relax and empty everything inside you! It’s one of my favourite areas to read, and I like to write in the café from time to time.

Competitions

Like other review sites there are a few competitions. Ciao members can enter these competitions if they are interested.

• Product of the week (PoW)

This is a weekly completion, every week on Monday morning a new product is chosen as PoW and is available for reviewers to write NEW reviews about. Members can enter the competition at anytime before 12 noon on the next Monday (11am GMT) and it is judged on member ratings up to 5pm (4pm GMT) on that day. Only new reviews which are written that week are eligible to win the prizes (£7, £5, £3 for the top three reviews).

Advantages of entering: You can write about your favourite product and get paid for ratings; if you win one of the prizes it will be extra money.
Disadvantages: A lot of ‘tactical ratings’ as some people call it. You may get overrated, or underrated depending on who you (and your friends) are! Also it can appear to be unfair when some members submit their reviews on Monday morning, even five hours before the ending of the competition, as their friends may give a lot of high ratings before they are balanced to its true value to the site.

• Current Issue (under ciao café) of the Month

This one is slightly different. This time it is for the whole month and only ONE winner will be selected after the end of the month. The prize is £15 to the winner. Each month Ciao creates a Fresh Topic for discussion which they hope will inspire debate.

The advantages and disadvantages are similar to those for the weekly competition, except that, being in the café, only the winner gets paid anything.

• Premium Fund and Diamonds

Every month ciao chooses the 10 “best” reviews of the month and rewards them with a diamond (worth up to £15); also any good quality product reviews may receive a sum of money (Premium Fund or PF): the review can be awarded from between 50p UP TO £10 depending on many factors including members’ nomination (by exceptional rating) and possibly non-member reads.

• Surveys (now dealt with on their own website)

Surveys can be found along with your personal information and special interests on a separate website, which uses the same username and password; the payments will be made separately and you can either wait for an email invitation to the site or visit the site looking for an available survey.

There are a lot of arguments about surveys. Some people keep ranting about 10p surveys for 60 minutes, or prize draw surveys (yes this is true) but you can chose not to participate so you keep looking until you find a suitable one. Also, I have to say that I have participated in quite few focus groups for £25-£33 for 60-90 minutes so don’t underestimate ciao surveys and keep checking every now and then.

The good points

• Easy to navigate; look around, colourful and easy to read fonts.

• A paying site, you get paid for every rate, premium fund plus competitions and affiliation programs

• High community spirits. You make friends and can meet them in real when a “ciao meet” is arranged.

• Reading useful reviews helps to make the right decision about a purchase.

• Writing reviews can be fun! Apart from the obvious reward, you can satisfy your love of writing, fulfil your talents and make your voice (writing) heard!

• You can upload pictures so you will enjoy uploading your work and let other people see your real talent for photography as well (I know some people who love this site because of the ability to upload their favourite photographic work)

The bad points

There are some bad points (I don’t deny that). Some people have found that ciao problems are unbearable, others rise above them and decide to stay whatever the weather!

• You need to have a bank account based on the UK. They only pay by bank transfer, no checks, paypal or vouchers which is not practical for some.

• Product suggestion link is hard to find, and the suggestion can take forever to be accepted.

• Pop ups and annoying flashing advertisements! Very annoying, disturbing and can slow down your connection especially if already you have a slow one!

• You don’t get paid for submitting a review, unlike some other websites, as the payment is per positive rating.

• Gremlins . . . a lot of members have left the site (after contributing to it for years) because of this, which is really sad. Ciao has been prone to gremlins for some time; you can experience a problem nearly every day.

• Abuse . . . some members enjoy sending offensive or abusive comments and messages to other members. Other members down rate members’ reviews without giving an obvious reason or comment; this can discourage members and destroy the credibility of this site as much as overrating reviews does.

• Churners! Because you can post any number of reviews, some members post reviews non-stop (hoping to get rich quick) but if they are all bad quality, they only lose community points, as payment is not for number of reviews but for positive ratings! They push genuinely good reviews off the most recent review pages.

• Multiple accounts to boost earnings and give higher rates to their reviews! This problem is in most reviewing sites.

• Revenge rating which can be done by the member himself or by his double account (of course).

• Rubbish surveys: some surveys are meaningless and pay very little so this part need to be improved.

• It can be very addictive. There is something about this site which is very addictive! It’s like a spell or a magic! You can spend hours on this site without being bored, even if you have nothing to do you just login! Very strange!

Conclusions

Ciao is a consumer website that you can search and read reviews about your favourite products. There are good and bad points about this site but in my honest opinion the good is more than the bad but at the end of the day it’s you choice whether to say ciao (hello) or ciao (goodbye)!
That is really all that I can say about ciao, I hope that I have answered most questions and solved some mysteries about this site. Ciao is like marmite . . . you may love it or hate it . . . and I’m absolutely IN LOVE with it!

Thanks for reading!

© Karimkha ~~~ March ~~~ 2009