If you've never heard of YouGov then listen to some of the national news bulletins. Sooner or later you'll hear the words, "In a YouGov survey most people thought...."

However, I must admit that when I first joined the site I was a bit disappointed. There didn't seem to be many surveys available and it took a long time to reach the payout level of £50. In fact it was so slow that after the first payout it took me another four years before I was paid again. Surveys weren't sent all that regularly and they were mostly worth 50 points, the equivalent of 50p. The payout level needs to be 5000 points.

Last year, in 2012 the site seemed to pick up a bit and in November I was able to cash in another £50. The number of surveys has increased and it is easier to build up points now than it was before. Even at this rate though it will still take me a year to earn £50. Nevertheless there are some very good reasons to stick with the site.

First of all the surveys are always sent to you via email.
The links in the email always work. (this doesn't always happen with survey sites.)
If you are chosen as a respondent you will very rarely be disqualified from completing the survey.
The surveys are not very long and are often very interesting. Most of them have a political or social slant.
The site is reliable in that you will be paid if you do the work.

There's one thing you need to watch. When you've completed the survey you'll be asked to rate it. This is easy enough but when you submit the answers a pop up screen appears and asks you if you would like to convert your points to draw entries. If you want to build up points and don't want to enter the draw, make sure you click on the link that says, "No thanks." This link is smaller than the one that says, "Yes please," and it's far less obvious. Don't be fooled into giving away your points when you've earned them. I find this a cheap trick to save a little bit of money.

If you're interested in politics you may want to explore other areas of the site. On the home page you have up to date political news plus the latest on how people will vote in an election. You'll also find links to the results of recent surveys and articles written by well known journalists such as John Humphrys.

Elsewhere on the site you also have the opportunity to complete your profile or Opigram. This consists of a number of profiling surveys for which you don't get paid.

On the whole I would recommend joining YouGov. You don't get paid very often but when you do get £50 it's very useful indeed. Payment is by cheque and has been very reliable for me. It took around three weeks for the cheque to arrive last time but times may vary.

I would say go for it. It's worth the small amount of time you need to spend on the surveys.