Sites That Are Quick to Delete

Last year I decided to check out a bunch of new paid to read sites that I'd seen advertised quite a bit. I ended up joining four or five sites. Within a few months, I'd lost every single of these new accounts due to inactivity (I happened through a very busy period in my life around this time). Don't get me wrong -- this was no big loss for me. To tell you the truth, I wasn't too impressed with the earning potential of any of these sites. If I had been, I probably would have stayed active. Still, this experience made me reflect on how inactivity policies likely affect the long-term success of sites.

It's normal for me to go through hot and cold periods when it comes to earning online. Sometimes I feel very gung-ho and would click all day if I could; other times I feel like I'd prefer to not ever again click on a paid link in my life. To a certain extent, the sites I've stuck with are the ones that have stuck with me through periods of inactivity. It's true that I tend to stay active on the sites I really like, but, still, things happen and I've gone inactive even on my best sites from time to time. The sites that didn't delete me are the ones I've continued to use, to advertise on, and to refer others towards. The sites that did delete me are the ones that lost me forever.

Ultimately, I don't think it pays to be quick to delete. So many PTRs barely manage to hold on to a few hundred members due to their harsh inactivity policies. Many offer "vacation" modes to enable inactive users to keep their accounts, but usually you can only go on vacation for a limited amount of time and if you're experiencing some crisis in your life you're apt to forget to do even this. Sites seem to frequently justify their inactivity policies by pointing out advertisers care about how many active members there are. There is truth in that statement, but I wonder why other PTRs can't simply do what PetMails does and report the number of active members in addition to the number of total users. It seems to me that that is a far better system. The sites that deleted me saved a few cents in potential payout, but I suspect they lost more than that in the long run. There's no harm in deleting the users who most likely will never return (though there can be surprises even there...I've read about people returning to sites after years of inactivity!), but after 30 days? Too harsh in my view.