Is Pulse Labs Research Studies a.k.a. "Pulse Voices" Legit or a Scam? An In-Depth Review

Nizel Adams
1 hour ago
7 min read

Questioning Pulse Lab's legitimacy and ethnics — Is Pulse Labs legit? How much money can you potentially make?

Pulse Labs initially reached out to me about two years ago. I was curious since we're already Google partners so to see why Google partnered with them for feedback about things like Gemini I decided to work with them. I was one of the top providers of feedback (not surprising as I'm one of the top 1% reviewers/consultants in the world) and my company made around $10k or so working with Pulse over the course of a few months. It took awhile though since I believe the first year there wasn't really much going on and there was maybe one study I participated in. By the time the second year came around and things ramped up, they still hadn't verified my identity so someone manually verified it after a video call since it seemed like they desperately needed people. This comes as no surprise since these types of study groups typically fill up with desperate people looking to do anything for a few bucks which includes lie.

"...they (Pulse Labs) base the pay on how fast a study is completed then send the invite within a timeframe where they (Pulse Labs) won't be able to verify the pre-screener in time."

Pulse Lab's apps that participants are forced to use are atrocious. Whether it is the constant bugs or having to redo entire sessions 4-5 times because it won't record the audio...it will drive some people insane. There's no option to choose your devices so all you have is a prayer that it works when you hit record. Pulse Labs frequently sends out payments and emails to the wrong people. Luckily everyone gets paid the same so people can just claim the payment and let Pulse figure it out later if need be. I can't say this is surprising since it is a stereotypical performance that is synonymous with gross companies that outsource their support and development teams, exploiting workers in underdeveloped countries in-order to save massive amounts of money.

If you're on a time crunch like me and only have specific availability, Pulse Voices or Pulse Labs isn't for you. Even if you're already apart of a program and have been participating in the same study for months...you have to do the screener for every session which includes verifying you installed the client's application and that it works. Pulse Labs' support team then takes sometimes a week to verify the screener before granting access to the actual study. The problem with this process is that Pulse Labs typically will randomly send an invite to a study that was supposed to start months beforehand...on a Thursday or Friday with a due date of Saturday or Sunday at a time such as 5pm if the participant expects to be paid in full. This makes every study session a race against time.

"...a study session can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to over three hours depending on what they're asking to get done."

Some would call that malicious or a scam since they base the pay on how fast a study is completed then send the invite within a timeframe where they won't be able to verify the pre-screener in time in-order to grant participants access to the official study. Numerous times I had to show them that I started the screener with 24-72 hours left and their team took forever to grant me access just so that I could get the full payout of $300-$400 or whatever. One time I completely missed out on a study even though I was ready to go, but they took at least a week to verify so the study had already been over. Not to mention a study session can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to over three hours depending on what they're asking to get done.

This is on top of the time wasted just trying to get a working recording using their app/website or their app to just work in general. I'd say I spent at minimum 1.5 hours on each session even if the session was only supposed to be twenty minutes. So for me the weekends that I planned for studies were ruined every single time before I could even start the study! Keep in mind these pre-study session screeners can take 10-30 minutes and you have to repeat them multiple times when the app isn't working. This means you have to deal with the broken apps which waste even more time.

Some studies specifically state that even if the client's application that is to be tested doesn't work, participants will still get paid. I assume it's because a broken application is of course apart of the feedback yet Pulse Labs will still try not to pay you and say your session is "invalid." I had to threaten to sue them as well as expose them via reviews like this since this wasn't the first time they tried to waste my time or pay me less than what was stated (which hilariously caused someone from Pulse Labs to check my social media then panic since they then immediately paid me out afterwards.) After they paid me, I removed the social media posts about them. Pulse Labs then went silent. I was removed from the current Google Gemini study (citing I "violated the TOS" which is hilarious) I was participating in at the time then received no more offers. Pulse Labs also stopped responding to messages.

"Unless you are a legitimate business client with actual employees, you will not make anywhere near the amount my company made."

Pulse Labs screener email that is overdue — Take note of the date sent and the due date for the screener...typical Pulse Labs

After that I was completely done with them. They eventually emailed me once more after a few months, but I assumed whoever emailed me forgot that they essentially banned me so I didn't respond. Almost a year later I receive another email about another study for $1500. These types of studies usually require multiple sessions where the participant gets paid anywhere from $150 to $500 per session which adds up to the total. The same penalties apply in regards to meeting deadlines in-order to get full payouts. I assumed they were getting desperate and wanted my company back so I clicked 'unsubscribe from all emails' then proceeded to download the app again to delete my account...only to see that my account has already been banned and set for deletion with my only choice being to just log out. This prompted me to write this review. So why email me? Oh of course they are incompetent so they forgot to remove one of my emails from their email list when they silently banned me almost a year ago for speaking out against their illegal tactics and shady maneuvers. Back then I could still login and even fill out old screeners for studies. Now they've made it official. No surprise Pulse Labs includes a lackluster termination and security process. The question is now how long has the account been disabled and how long do they intend to hold on to my data? Pulse Labs consider this review an official legal notice to remove every single byte of data concerning me.

Unless you are a legitimate business client with actual employees, you will not make anywhere near the amount my company made. We were one of the top panelists/study participants, with Pulse Lab giving us glowing feedback about the material we submitted in the few times we actually spoke over video calls. Most people can probably expect to make a hundred bucks here and there if they qualify for a study, but looking a those complaining...it seems like the average person only makes money on the screeners which is just $25 or so.

Our Rating

★☆☆☆☆

1 out of 5 stars - Overall while Pulse Labs is legitimate company, it is a very immature, grossly incompetent, shady, unprofessional organization that has problems paying people. With the wave of negative reviews recently concerning non-payment, it looks like they are desperate for funds and have resorted to straight up scamming people now. I had to follow up on a late payment or two myself. Participants will eventually find themselves fighting for every penny even though there are contracts in place as Pulse Labs seemingly does not care about breach of contract. They banned me because I got tired of their bs and called them out on their blatant breach of contract as well as incompetency. Looking at the negative reviews, banning dissenters is common practice for Pulse Labs. They also underpay. When I work with Amazon, Google, etc. directly, they pay me anywhere from $600-$1200/hr. Pulse Labs usually pays less than $600 total for studies that take numerous hours, sometimes days of your time. They seem to be taking a huge percentage of what these companies are actually paying or severely undercutting their competition and expecting participants to work for spare change. Coupled with the buggy website/applications they force participants to use and poor processes, it can be a nightmare. I would avoid this company like the plague.

Pulse Labs account disabled notice — Questionable ethics especially if they have to include that last line

@Google. You can do better. You've known me for decades and have my contact information. Reach out to me directly from now on if you want more testing of Gemini and our companies can work something out like we usually do instead of letting a shady company like Pulse Labs submit data to you that they allegedly didn't pay people for. The same goes for anyone else that is looking for a consultant to give feedback on their product or service.

@Pulse Labs once again consider this review an official legal notice to remove every single byte of data concerning me.

Be sure to show your support for Nizel Co. by following us on social media