Xuqa was a 2006 social network whose members earned an in-game currency called “peanuts” by taking surveys, responding to cost-per-action offers, and referring friends. Its survey technology was later extended to other networks and communities under the name Peanut Labs, a company that matched online users with market-research surveys. In 2010 e-Rewards agreed to acquire Peanut Labs, and the plan reported at the time was to fold its survey business into Research Now. Whether Peanut Labs or any successor service still operates in 2026 could not be confirmed from current sources, and this article treats its present status as unverified.
Xuqa: a social network that paid in “peanuts” (2006)
TechCrunch’s September 11, 2006 report on Xuqa described a network where members could take surveys, view cost-per-action offers, and refer other users to earn “peanuts,” an in-game currency. Co-founder Ali A. Moiz used an example of a survey offer aimed at a specific age and gender group, which shows the basic logic: advertisers or research clients paid for access to members who matched a profile. That 2006 article is a snapshot of the model at one moment, not a full account of how Xuqa worked or how much its members earned.
From social-network rewards to a sampling service (2007)
By November 2007, Daily Research News Online (MRWeb) reported that Peanut Labs was extending Xuqa’s survey technology to other social networks and online communities. The reported flow turned a social reward mechanism into a recruitment service for researchers:
- A user completes an initial profile questionnaire.
- Profile information is used to match that user with relevant survey invitations.
- The user takes the survey and receives points or other benefits inside the host network.
- The host site gains a monetization mechanism, and the research client gains access to a targeted respondent pool.
This structure is why the company is best described as a respondent-recruitment and sampling business rather than a survey tool. The members who did the surveys were the product, and the rewards were the cost of keeping them participating.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Timeline at a glance
| Date | Event | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| September 11, 2006 | Xuqa described as a social network paying members “peanuts” for surveys, CPA offers, and referrals | TechCrunch, “Social network Xuqa’s in the black.” Contemporary snapshot. |
| November 29, 2007 | Peanut Labs extends Xuqa’s survey technology to other social networks and online communities | Daily Research News Online (MRWeb), “Social Network Researcher to Pay Peanuts.” |
| September 27, 2010 | e-Rewards acquires Peanut Labs; integration with Research Now and brand transition planned | TechCrunch and Research Live. The integration was a reported plan, not a confirmed outcome. |
| 2010 | Peanut Labs launches three global online panels in Asia | Peanut Labs press release, 2010. Describes the offering at that time only. |
| February 16, 2012 | CrowdVi.be announced as a quick online sampling tool | TechCrunch, “Peanut Labs Makes Online Market Surveys Quick And Cheap With CrowdVi.be.” Launch-era description. |
| December 6, 2012 | Samplify announced as a do-it-yourself sampling dashboard for researchers | TechCrunch, “Peanut Labs Launches Samplify, Promising A DIY, Flexible Approach To Market Research.” Launch-era description. |
| 2026 (crawl date) | A Crunchbase profile lists Peanut Labs as “Closed” | Secondary company profile. Not a primary announcement. |
The 2010 acquisition and the planned integration
TechCrunch reported on September 27, 2010 that online research company e-Rewards had acquired Peanut Labs. The same period’s coverage described Peanut Labs’ respondent pool as around 240 million consumers. That figure belongs to the 2010 acquisition report and should not be compared directly with the 2012 audience numbers below, which were measured differently.
Research Live reported the plan that accompanied the deal. Peanut Labs’ survey business would be integrated with Research Now, and the Peanut Labs name would stop being used as a client-facing brand. The publisher-facing monetization platform, however, would keep the Peanut Labs identity. Read this as the intent announced in 2010. The sources reviewed do not document how the integration was carried out or how long any brand arrangement lasted.
The 2012 sampling tools
In 2012 Peanut Labs launched two products that aimed to make online sampling faster and more self-service. Both descriptions come from launch coverage, so they describe what the company offered at the time.
CrowdVi.be (February 2012)
TechCrunch reported on February 16, 2012 that CrowdVi.be was built to deliver online market survey results quickly and cheaply. The company said results could begin arriving in less than a minute. That is a launch claim reported by TechCrunch; the article did not test it, and this article does not either. The same report described Peanut Labs’ audience as some 50 million users across 200 social networks worldwide. That figure is the company’s own description at launch, not an independently audited count.
Rank #3
Samplify (December 2012)
TechCrunch’s December 6, 2012 report described Samplify as a do-it-yourself dashboard that let researchers set up and manage their own sampling. The launch description cited more than 100 respondent attributes available for targeting. Attribute counts are product claims about what the platform could filter on, not a measure of how precisely any particular study would be targeted.
Reading the figures correctly
The company’s numbers come from different reports, in different years, and measure different things. They should not be blended into one audience size.
Rank #4
| Figure | Source and date | What it does and does not mean |
|---|---|---|
| Around 240 million consumers | TechCrunch, 2010 acquisition report | Respondent pool described at the time of the acquisition. Measurement basis not stated in the report. |
| Some 50 million users on 200 social networks | TechCrunch, February 2012, describing the CrowdVi.be launch | Company description of its reach in 2012. Not current and not independently verified. |
| More than 100 attributes | TechCrunch, December 2012, describing Samplify | Launch-era product claim about targeting options. Not a measure of study accuracy. |
| Less than a minute to start results | TechCrunch, February 2012, describing CrowdVi.be | Historical launch claim. Not tested in the reporting. |
Why an opt-in panel is not a random sample
The most important limit of this model is who is in the sample. People who join a survey panel for rewards have chosen to do so. In February 2012, Peanut Labs chief executive Noman Ali told TechCrunch:
“So, these surveys still have the inherent bias of only selecting for people who have chosen to participate in exchange for offers.”
Recommended Free Tools
Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.Best Value
A large opt-in pool can be useful for finding people with specific traits quickly, but its size does not make it representative of a whole population. Anyone comparing this kind of sampling with other methods should look at recruitment channel, targeting depth, response speed, cost as reported at the time, and how well the sample represents the group being studied. The sources do not offer current comparative evidence that would support ranking one method above another.
Current status: what can and cannot be confirmed
- Confirmed as history: Xuqa’s reward model, Peanut Labs’ 2007 expansion, the 2010 acquisition by e-Rewards, and the 2012 CrowdVi.be and Samplify launches.
- Reported plan only: the 2010 integration with Research Now and the retirement of the Peanut Labs client-facing brand.
- Unverified: whether CrowdVi.be, Samplify, or any Peanut Labs survey service is available today. A recently crawled Crunchbase profile labels the company “Closed,” but that is a secondary profile, and no current primary announcement from the company or its successor was located.
Treat the 2026 status as open until a primary source confirms it. Readers who are considering paid survey sites for income should also note that these reports describe rewards in points and virtual currency and do not state payout rates. Nothing here establishes what a participant could earn, or whether any survey program described in 2006–2012 coverage still pays out.
See the original reporting: TechCrunch’s September 11, 2006 article on Xuqa, Daily Research News Online’s November 29, 2007 article on Peanut Labs, TechCrunch’s September 27, 2010 acquisition report, TechCrunch’s February 16, 2012 CrowdVi.be article, and TechCrunch’s December 6, 2012 Samplify article.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
