MyLot
began as an experiment by a company called Waseringtech based in
Overland Park, Kansas. It opened its doors to the public in April 2006
as a forum which paid its members for their participation.The method of calculating how much members earned was (and still is) unique, as far as I know. It claimed to be able to reward members strictly according to the quality of their participation, so that there never was and never could be a set amount 'per post'. The details of the algorithm were extremely complex and a closely guarded secret. Many people posted 'theories' about how to play the system but all that I have seen were hopelessly wrong.
For nearly seven years MyLot was a lively and thriving community where good quality discussion was actively encouraged by paying members according to quality. Membership grew steadily to over 250,000, though it was well known that many members were no longer active and that the number probably also included deleted accounts. By the beginning of 2013, however, it was a lively forum with active members from many countries, notably the Philippines, India and quite a few from China.
At some time in 2011 or 2012 the enterprise was spun off into a new company, MyLot LLC, who decided to redesign the site 'from the ground up', changing the look of the site from something which, with all its faults, was unique and usable as a discussion forum, to the more 'fashionable' vertical columnar format you see today. The new design was a very closely guarded secret until one or two members discovered a 'back door' to an apparently live test version with usernames (and real names) displayed. Some screenshots were circulated and the fact that real names were displayed and had, apparently, been generally available (to anyone discovering the URL) for up to a month caused a big furore which resulted in an apology and two days of quadruple earnings as compensation.
In late April 2013, it was announced that the new site would be launched 'in the next few days' and that, simultaneously, the earnings program would be discontinued and that some of the rules regarding advertising would be relaxed. This, again, caused a big uproar amongst many members, especially because of the very short notice and the nature of the announcement. There was a great deal of consternation and many harsh words resulting in the loss of many active members.
The new site went active on 1 May 2013. Most members were not very impressed with the new look, comparing it to Twitter and Facebook. It is certainly 'cleaner' and rather more easy to navigate and I have no doubt that the thinking behind it was to make the site more acceptable to phones and tablets which people tend to use in a portrait format. It is, however, rather less well suited to desktop and laptop monitors which are generally in landscape format.
Between 2013 and 2015, under the new Guidelines, the site degenerated into a 'spam' site and very few of the original members remain. In mid-July of 2015, however, the original owners have taken over the running of the site again and have said that they propose to re-introduce an earnings program with a new (and better) 'earnings algorithm'. Look out for the Official Announcement!
