Scour: Paid to Search, Again?

by D4vedw1n

This article started out as my attempt to try to beat a system through the use of various tools.

In the process, I learned a lot.  In fact, I learned enough that I felt compelled to write this, and am still learning as I write.

In late June, a new web site called Scour launched, and with it the promise of getting paid to search and comment.

There are people on the site that claim to have gotten their gift cards.  We've heard this before, though, in the late-1990s with ad sponsored, free service providers.  So, until I get mine, I remain skeptical.  I saw this as my opportunity to make a small contribution to my newly found 2600/hacker world.

The first thing I would like to say is that you will not (to my knowledge) be able to "earn" the $25 in one day.  They caught on pretty quickly to tricks, and there is a "500-point personal cap" on search points per day.  There is, however, an unlimited number of referral points, though I haven't checked to see if you get points for your friends' friends' friends, like an MLM scheme.  If you get caught and kicked off the site, sorry Charlie.  Second, I am still new to the scene, so this may seem basic to some readers.  Third, other than the gift card you can gain some (albeit minor) scripting and automating processes knowledge.

You are going to need three things: a text editor, the Scour toolbar, and a macro type tool.

The text editor I used was Notepad, for simplicity.

I downloaded a book for length from www.etext.org.  This generates the "random" searches.

For the toolbar, go to: www.scour.com and set up your account.  You get 100 points for downloading their toolbar, which we need anyway.  Once your account is set up, and the toolbar running, do a few test searches to be sure your points are accumulating.

Lastly, you will need a tool that allows you to run macro type functions on your PC.

I tested this with a demo of "Workspace Macro 4.6", but I quickly ran out of uses.  Up until that point, though, I found it most effective.  A friend mentioned a cool tool he uses daily, "AutoHotKey", which is available at www.autohotkey.com.  I used this because it was free, offered me a chance to learn something new (scripting), and most importantly got the job done (thanks Chad).

After installing AutoHotKey (AHK), you will need to find the location of your Scour toolbar.  Launch AHK, and your browser.  Right-click on the AHK icon in system tray, and select "Window Spy".  Then click in the toolbar for Scour.  Make a note of your "In Active Window: X, X" for the script.  This way if your browser likes to move around (like IE), it will always be the same location.

Start a new AHK script by right-clicking and then choosing "New -> AutoHotKey Script" from the Menu.  Name it, keeping the AHK extension.  Right-click that file and choose edit.  Leave the template in there and enter the script.

Below are the nuts-and-bolts of the script.

You will want to change the document title from "Untitled Notepad" to the document you are using (found in title bar), and the browser you are using (I was using IE 6).

You can also make it repeat as many as you want (remember, 500...) by changing the loop count.

Open Notepad, or your e-text document, and set up the script so that it matches your setup.

Launch AutoHotKey (it will show up in the system tray as a white "H' in a green square.  Then run your edited script:

Loop 3 { ;Set focus to Document WinActivate Untitled Notepad ;Replace with the name of your document ;Highlight the text Send ^+{right}^+{right}^+{right} ;Clears Clipboard and copies text for search to Clipboard clipboard = Send ^c ClipWait ;Move off the highlighted text ;If using Word, use right, OpenOffice left and right act funny so choose Send {left} ;Launch Browser SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ;helps with the WinWait command below run iexplore.exe WinWait, Internet,, 10 ;Change Internet to name of browser Click 130, 111 ; Location for Active Window numbers Send ^v WinWait, Internet,,10 Send {Enter} Sleep 10000 WinClose }

To get points from your "referred friends," they need to be in your contacts for either Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, MSN, or AOL.

If you are like me and have several email addresses, you can refer yourself.  There are bonus points for referring people, but we are looking for the points from them.  So set up one or two more, and use the script on their accounts, too.  I got 200 points for inviting two friends, but think that is a max.  I still need to test the MLM-type points and will update with a letter if I get it to work.

That's it.

I would recommend throwing in some "real" searches with comments.  That will make your account activity appear more genuine and, who knows, you may actually start to like the social searches.

Code: scour.ahk