thw-global-logoWhen THW Global surfaced back in June, the company’s prime drawcard was affiliates purportedly able to earn up to $25 for watching “YouTube type videos”.

This made no sense, primarily because the commission rates touted by THW Global were disconnected from the reality of online advertising.

No legitimate advertiser on the planet is paying random users $25 to watch an hour of YouTube videos.

In a move that confirms the original “up to $25 an hour” commission rate was baloney, THW Global have rolled out the actual primary source of revenue for the company…

…and it’s got nothing to do with online advertising or YouTube like videos.

Recruitment Commissions

Like any other recruitment scheme, THW Global looks set to source most of its income from affiliates.

THW Globlal are charging $995 for “certification”, on top of an ongoing monthly $39.95 fee.

The certification THW Global are selling is actually MLM commission qualification, allowing an affiliate to earn residual commissions via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

unilevel-commission-structure

If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

THW Global cap payable unilevel levels at ten, with commissions paid as a percentage of fees paid by THW Global affiliates:

  • level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 20%
  • levels 2 to 10 – 4%

Coded Bonuses

THW Global’s affiliate certification generates points within the compensation plan as follows:

  • certified THW Global affiliate fee ($995) – 20,000 points
  • monthly THW Global certification fee ($39.95) – 500 points

100 points is equal to $1 USD.

These points are distributed to affiliates via a coded-bonus, using the same unilevel compensation structure as recruitment commissions.

To qualify for the coded-bonus qualification, a THW Global affiliate must pay $995 for certification, continue to pay $34.95 a month and have generated at least 5000 points (via recruitment) over the last 31 days.

How many points a THW Global affiliate can qualify for is determined by their affiliate rank:

  • 1 Star Certified – 7.5%
  • 2 Star Certified – 15%
  • 3 Star Certified – 22.5%
  • 4 Star Certified – 30%
  • 5 Star Certified – 37.5%
  • 6 Star Certified – 45%
  • Presidential Certified – 50%

Rank qualification criteria for coded bonuses are as follows:

  • 1 Star Certified – recruit at least three THW Global affiliates who pay $995 for certification
  • 2 Star Certified – recruit at least three 1 Star Certified affiliates
  • 3 Star Certified – recruit at least three 2 Star Certified affiliates
  • 4 Star Certified – recruit at least three 3 Star Certified affiliates
  • 5 Star Certified – recruit at least three 4 Star Certified affiliates
  • 6 Star Certified – recruit at least three 5 Star Certified affiliates
  • Presidential Certified – recruit at least three 6 Star Certified affiliates

When a THW Global affiliate pays $995 and signs up for certification, the coded-bonus pays out points to the first coded-bonus qualified affiliate in the upline.

This percentage payout is based on the qualified affiliate’s rank.

For example, if the first qualified upline affiliate was 3 Star Certified, they’d receive 22.5% of the points generated.

The system would then search for higher ranked affiliates to pay out 27.5% remaining to (50% max payout minus 22.5%).

If affiliates ranked lower than Presidential Certified are found, they earn their share until eventually a Presidential Certified is found and the remaining percentage is paid out.

If a Presidential Certified is the first qualified upline found, they earn 50% and the system does not search higher.

Conclusion

Unfortunately what started out as “get paid up to $25 an hour to watch YouTube videos” has deteriorated into a simple $995 a pop chain-recruitment scheme.

The $995 THW Global certification fee will dwarf any advertising revenue raised by the company, with affiliates paid directly and residually to recruit other THW Global affiliates who do the same.

That is however assuming there’s enough gullible THW Global affiliates who pay the fee. This might prove a challenge for the company, as they’ve been signing a bunch of people on the premise of participation in the opportunity costing nothing.

Even someone with a remote inkling of how online advertising works should have seen this coming though. Splitting advertising fees among hundreds of thousands of affiliates, who provide low-quality non-targeted viewership, was always going to pay peanuts.

THW Global’s plan appears to have been to lure suckers in without mentioning the meat of their compensation plan, spring it when they’ve got enough free affiliates signed up and then hope enough of them cough up.

My prediction is there aren’t going to be enough affiliates willing to cough up $995 just to get paid to recruit others who do the same. Pitching a $995 fee to people who signed up for a free ride isn’t smart business.

THW Global will continue to string free affiliates along for a while, going from this beta to that beta. But after advertising commissions are paid out though and people see they’ve only been paid a few cents, that’ll be the end of it.

Hope y’all used disposable email addresses and non-primary cell numbers to sign up with.