Offerwalls: how app and game offers pay, and why some never credit

What an offerwall is

An offerwall is a list of tasks from advertisers, shown inside a rewards site by an offer network: install an app and reach a level in a game, sign up for a service, start a free trial, or make a purchase. Each offer names a reward and what you must do to earn it.

Who pays for an offer

The advertiser pays the offer network when a new user completes the action it wants, because it expects that user to be worth more to it than the payment. The network passes part of that to the rewards site, and the site passes part to you. That is why offers that need more from you, such as a high game level or a paid subscription, show bigger rewards.

How an offer is tracked

When you open an offer, the network records the click with your account ID on the rewards site. When the advertiser sees the required action, it tells the network, and the network tells the rewards site, which credits you. If any link in that chain breaks, for example the advertiser cannot connect your install or sign-up to your click, nothing is credited, even if you did everything.

Why a completed offer does not credit

The usual reasons: you had installed the app or used the service before (app and sign-up offers are usually for new users only); you opened the app or site some other way than through the offer link; an ad blocker, a privacy setting or a different browser broke the tracking; you did not finish the exact requirement, or not within the time limit; or the advertiser was slow to report it.

Read the requirements before you start, open the offer from the wall and finish it on the same device, and keep a screenshot of the requirement and of your result. Many offer networks have a form for missing credits; screenshots are usually part of what they ask for.

Choose offers worth your time

Compare the reward with the time and money an offer really needs. Game offers often ask for a level that takes days or weeks. Offers that need a purchase or a subscription cost money; count that against the reward, and note the date to cancel a free trial before it charges you; check first whether the offer requires you to keep it for a minimum time, because cancelling early can get the reward reversed. When an offer is unclear, a smaller offer you can finish today is often the better choice.

Pending, and reversed later

Advertisers check for fraud and can refuse a conversion after it is reported, for example when the app was uninstalled at once or the sign-up was fake. Many honest rewards sites therefore hold new offer rewards for a while before you can withdraw them, and show a reversal in your history if the advertiser takes one back.

Protect your phone and your data

Install apps only from the official app store. An app that asks for access to your messages, your contacts or accessibility services without a clear reason is a warning sign; you can leave the offer. Sign-up offers can share your email or phone number with the advertiser, so use an email address you do not mind receiving marketing at and read what you agree to.

One account, your real device and location

Offer networks check for VPNs, emulators, multiple accounts and repeated installs, because advertisers will not pay for them. Using them usually ends with rewards reversed and the account closed, on the network and on the rewards site.