It doesn't take too much effort to find a host of freebie sites on the Web. Just try entering "free giveaways," "free prizes," or "free sweepstakes" into your favorite search engine, and hundreds (if not thousands) of hits await. More amazingly still, not all of these freebie sites are mere schemes to get you to buy, buy, buy. Some offer real chances to win valuable prizes.

Why would anyone simply give away free vacations, cars, and cash? Some corporations are so well funded that an automobile is a small price to pay in return for credible and detailed market research that would ordinarily cost them thousands of dollars. So it's either thousands spent trying to earn honest and insightful feedback from consumers or a similar sum spent on a sufficiently sexy prize to lure those consumers in. Either way, that money is still coming out of the company's marketing and advertising budget.

Different Types of Freebie Sites

There are freebie sites that offer daily drawings for prizes and cash. There are also some that give away bigger jackpots, but only once a week or once a month. In most cases, you'll be asked to complete some sort of introductory form, just to proceed to the actual questionnaire. Other sites, meanwhile, feature quizzes on everything from math and English to pop-culture matters.

The idea of these quizzes isn't to challenge users with truly difficult questions. Most of the answers can be found with a minute of web research. But by setting up a question-and-answer structure, some businesses are able to instill a sense of reward, which encourages users to plow ahead with their survey and ultimately complete it quickly and thoroughly.