Is this a SCAM or what? - FREE iPod... FREE Plasma TV... FREE Laptop Computer... FREE Digital Camera?

I get junk email offering me this crap all the time. I immediately delete them because if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Right? Thats what I use to believe. Then one day my friend Gus, showed me his new computer system. High-speed name brand computer, color monitor and color printer.

Guess how much it cost? he asks me. Since I use to sell computers for a living, I had a pretty good guesstimate of what it should cost. Its about $1,000 bucks for everything I said.

Nope, I got it FREE. Yeah, right I said not believing him. Did you steal it or was it a gift?He said that he completed the requirements from an ad that advertised that they would send you a FREE Computer.

I said. Those things are all scams. Nobody gives away FREE computers. He tells me that some of those offers probably are scams but there are also some legitimate offers.

How can anyone make money or even stay in business giving away free stuff? He says Do you remember when Google first started? Sure I said. How much did they charge to use their service, when they started? They didnt charge anything. How much do they charge now? he asks. They still dont charge.

So its FREE he says. Yet they have grown to be one of the most profitable companies in the entire world. Yea, but they are not giving away FREE expensive electronic equipment I countered.

Gus looks me straight in the eye and asks How do they make their money? They sell advertising. Google Adsense and Adwords.

Ah, ADVERTISING he says. Advertising has made them one of the most profitable companies In history. While it may be contrary to what youve always been told - if it sounds too good to be true it probably is - there really are legitimate promotions that do offer consumers the opportunity to earn all types of expensive gifts for FREE.

Now, as you can imagine he tells me, the process for actually getting these FREE items is not quite as easy as the advertisers and promoters want you to believe - but it is very possible.

There are things a person needs to do to get them, but when you do, you get the item. This type of advertising is known as incentive marketing and has spawned an entire cottage industry of people earning free products.

The way it works is that (unknown to you) the sites offering FREE Stuff make their money from Advertising.

As part of their promotions they introduce consumers to various advertisers products and services, and in return they are paid a commission for each new lead they generate.

For example, they might earn $50 each time they refer a new user to AOL even though the user only signed up for a free trial and didnt pay anything at all.

You may have to sign up for a bunch of Free Trial memberships or refer a certain number of people who sign up for the Free Trial memberships. Oftentimes the user who is trying to earn a FREE gift gives up for one reason or another before getting the required number of referrals. In this case the company collects some commissions and doesnt have to send the user anything, so its pure profit.

The company gets PAID by other compaines for generating leads. This is how they make their money. They can afford to give away Free products and still make a handsome profit for themselves. Some of them actually make quite a bit of profit. Just ask the guys from Google.