Thoughts on a side gig

 I have discovered a new way to earn a bit of pin money. It involves clicking the links sent to me by a company whose job is to boost search engine results. Someone pays this company to get Real Humans to click their links on search engine results pages, and if they get enough clicks, the Mysterious Search Engine Algorithms will rank those pages higher.

The company, in turn, uses a browser add=on to register the clicks that we give the links, and pays per click. At the end of the month, they pay directly into PayPal. They are as good as their word. The transaction went through right on the first of this month, my first time being paid by them.

Many of the links being clicked are for businesses. "Personal injury attorney in XYZ City", "Roofers in ABC Town", etc. One particular art studio has been posting individual items of theirs that are for sale. I can see where a company would find it expedient to buy some clicks for their items, so their links will show up in web searches.

Then there are the assignments that I find... intriguing. There are a few names that have been popping up repeatedly, and they are for individual human beings, all rich guys who founded whatever companies they are affiliated with. Their links are leading to sites where glowing articles are written about them, that discuss their philanthropic activities, that describe their various business successes, and so on.

But I noticed something. Interspersed in the search engine results that I am going through, to track down the intended link and click on it, are articles that are... shall we say, not as favorable as the ones we are clicking. Those other headlines discuss bankruptcies, lawsuits, rude things the person has allegedly said or done, and so on.

My educated guess is that the purchaser of these clicks is hoping to make the desirable coverage links be the first things people see when they search on the person's name.

Having said this, I have no idea who is purchasing the clicks. I am aware that there are companies dedicated to cleaning up a person's online brand, and I suspect these individuals are affluent enough to enlist such a company's services.

It's interesting, though, that I have not yet encountered the names of any women taking these steps to enhance their search engine results. Maybe we ladies ought to think in these terms, if we want to be sure that OUR names are the first things people see when they hit up a search engine.

Food for thought.