According to a survey conducted by Nielsen Entertainment there are over 50 million active online gamers in the U.S. alone. That is a lot of people spending time online gaming, but more importantly it is a lot of money being spent online since most of the most popular games are not free.

World of Warcraft will cost you 14.99 a month to subscribe and other MMORPG's (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) have similar monthly fees. Two games that are free to play are Second Life (not truly a game) and Entropia Universe, however there is a catch. While each offers free play they also allow you to buy in game currency and it is easy to spend quite a bit in game if you want to upgrade and have the most fun. When I was playing Entropia it wasn't unusual for me to spend $100 a month.

So, how do you pay for your online gaming?

Most of us overlook the monthly subscription fee since it is so small. We simply take it for granted, but what if you are on a tight budget? Or maybe you play more than one game online. Students, part time workers and those of us who simply don't have extra money can feel the pinch of the subscription fees.

Once you start to get into a game like Second Life or Entropia you're sure to want to deposit to get your hands on the more elite upgrades and toys available. A few hundred PED a month can go a very long way in the Entropia Universe.

Some people take part time jobs or work some overtime to pay for their online gaming, but for some of us this simply won't work. Well, I've found an alternative that lets me stay online and makes me plenty of money to pay for my online gaming. And it doesn't involve farming gold in world and risking getting my account banned. And anyone can do this from anywhere in the world. The only requirements are a PC with an internet connection and you must be over 13 years old.

For the past year I've been taking online surveys to pay for my online gaming. It is so easy and it is risk free. No pyramid schemes or recruiting other people necessary. In just an hour or so a day I make plenty of money to support both my WOW and Entropia accounts.

It's no coincidence that there are so many sites offering paying surveys these days. Right now there are an estimated 7 million companies in the US alone. And all of them need to know what their customers are thinking, what they want, what they like and what they don't like. And they spend over 40 billion dollars a year researching the consumer market.

Many companies used to use telephone interviewing to get feedback from their customers, but since the "Do Not Call List" started they needed to find new and uniques ways to get customer feedback"Do Not Call List" companies have been forced to find new ways to gather information about their customers and potential customers. Why? Contacting someone from the "Do Not Call List" can cost the offending company up to $10,000 in penalties and fines"Do Not Call List" these companies face fines and penalties of up to $10,000.

So, they are now spending a large portion of that over 40 billion dollars to do their research online. Much of the online research consists of free surveys for cash and online focus groups. Because the companies need feedback from real people they are willing to pay cash to you and me to get that honest feedback.

It is a WIN-WIN situation. Companies get the market research they need and we as consumers get paid to voice our opinions by taking free surveys for cash. Everyone profits from online surveys.

Everyone profits from online surveys you, the survey companies and the end customer. Even if you don't game online you can use online surveys to pay for that next great PS2 or Xbox game. Give it a try today and see why online paid surveys are such a great way to pay for your gaming.