Thursday, February 20, 2014

Enhanced account state checking

If you have chosen to do the daily offers BingR will also use the data it's already downloading to get the daily links to determine the state of your account. I've noticed that sometimes Bing will just delete your Bing account but not the live account. This results in a particular set of data that I've set BingR to detect. If you do have an account that meets these criteria you'll see this message in your PointsPerAccount.txt file:

02/20/2014-08:28:14 - emailaddress@gmail.com Dashboard data DOWNLOAD succeeded but READ failed. This account MIGHT be blocked. You might want to check it with the Chckr to be sure. Skipping Daily offers and progress logging

If you see this message, visit that account and you'll probably see a "Join Bing" message where your dashboard should be.  I think this happens when you create an account using a referral link and then create another account using that SAME referral link on the SAME IP address. I'm not 100% sure this is the case, but to be safe you should always make your new accounts from fresh clean IPs.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Array bug squashed?

I believe I've squashed that "array variable has incorrect number of subscripts" error. It's been hiding in plain sight all along... I also added in some more descriptive logging in the PointsPerAccount file for failures. That way at least you'll know your account RAN even if you don't know how many points it has.

These error were caused, from what I can tell, by either unresponsive servers on Microsoft's side, an intermittent internet connection on your side or by an account being blocked by Microsoft. Blocked accounts will log into the dashboard but won't display any data. In the logging I've spelled out for  you when an account meets these criteria so you can go check it to see if you need to verify it or toss it. See my post on how to not get banned for help on that decision.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Small bugfixes

Some little fixes here and there to help out the daily link clicker and emailing feature.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Anti-ban advice

**Update: 3/132014 - Since I started using the steps outlined here I've redeemed 20 times (8 accounts) with zero bans or delays**

While the BingR is the most human of any of the bots (realistic logging in, realistic searching) you can still get banned because of several things. I'll try to address what I know of those things here so, no matter what Bing bot you're using you'll have the best chance to get your awards. I'll try to keep this post updated.

How I think they pass out bans

  • Bing can easily know your IP.
    • This means they'll know if you're coming in from behind the same router. They know your outside 'routable' IP, not an internal one. To see what your IP is google 'what is my IP' and google will show you. If you want to get a new IP to either run a new batch of 5 accounts OR to redeem (see below) your options are to either turn off your internet MODEM (not router although they may be the same device) and wait to see if you get a new IP (DSL=good chance, Cable=bad chance) or logon to another wifi network.
  • Bing can do a simple check for any accounts that are named similarly. If you have similarly named accounts accessing Bing from the same address you're on the short list to get banned. Also if your accounts have dissimilar names BUT all your passwords are similar/the same that's the same type of simple search to bust you. 
  • Bing bans happen when you redeem, NOT when you search (usually).
    • Bing doesn't mind you searching on their network. This just increases their 'we're as good as Google' stuff. The more searches the better. However, paying out gift cards is another matter.
  • Do NOT use Microsoft Outlook (hotmail, live, outlook) emails. These get "blocked' (not banned) like crazy sauce. 
    • If you're already using one you can keep using it but start making backups (see below) as time and situation permits. 
  • DO be sure to record all the info you use for your account info. Street name, phone number, etc. 
  • Be prepared - slowly create new accounts and leave them dormant. Do this from a fresh IP, then just let the account lie. Bing seems to ban new accounts more frequently than established accounts. 
  • When creating new accounts:
    • Verify the account (from the blue Microsoft login.live page. It's a white link at the top). If you don't do this, your chances of getting a block go WAY up. It'll only take a second - do it!
    • Fill in all the Account Info! Address, phone, etc. Do it when you crate the account b/c it's a PITA to do it when you want to redeem. 
  • Even though you CAN use more than 5 accounts in my bot I'm not recommending that you do that right now. If you do have more than 5 you should have some way to switch IP addresses between each set of 5 (private VPN, proxies, etc.).

If you're going to redeem a card, here is what you want to do.
  • DO NOT search with the account for at least 24 hours Bing Time (that's Pacific time, US).
    • This means if you live in Iowa and you stop searching at 7 pm and wait till 7pm the next day you've NOT gone a full Bing day. Start your 24hr timer at 9pm Pacific time.
  • Redeem from a 'fresh' IP
    • Do the redemption from an IP you've not searched Bing from. This may be difficult - you may need to go to a coffee shop or something. 
    • Hell, if you're at a fresh IP you might as well create a new account and let it sit dormant so you can use it when one of your accounts gets banned. 
If you do get banned:
  • You better know all the info you gave for the account. Every stitch. If you don't know this info, do not contact them. The account is a total loss
  • If you know the info, you have to make a choice. If you call them and they believe you, you get the $5. If you call them and it doesn't work expect increased scrutiny on the IP (and the other accounts) you've been searching from. 
  • Personally I don't contact them, if they don't send the card I just toss it and roll in another one. 


Tuesday, February 4, 2014

BingR now notifies you when you accounts are ready!

I've added 2 features that will help you track your accounts without having to login to them. Please note that both these features REQUIRE that you have the "Daily Offers" enabled (because that is what parses the rewards dashboard...). I don't know why you wouldn't want the Daily offer enabled - it can pay off big especially this month (February) - I've had a few accounts get 200 extra credits!

The first is the BingR will add a line to the text file "PointsPerAccount.txt" every time it logs into an account that will include the date, your Available credits (before today's run) and your lifetime credits. This way you can watch your account balances from one file!

The second is that BingR will send you an email (to an address you choose, not necessarily the rewards ones) when your accounts crests a certain number of credits (you decide - default is 525). The email will include the account, computer it's running on and the number of credits.

The new settings.ini locations for these are:
[0DoNOTEmailMeWhenReadyToRedeem1YESEmailMe]
Contact=1
[YourEmailAddressICanUseWhenAnAccountIsReady]
ContactEmail=MyRealEmailAddressThatIActuallyCheck@gmail.com
[AmountOfCreditsNecessaryForMeToNotifyYou]
Threshold=525

Monday, February 3, 2014

the BingR now gets your Daily Offers!!!

I worked out a way (kinda ghetto) to get all the daily offers for each account. Works in Chrome and IE. I'll refine it over the coming days but I wanted to get this version out there ASAP!

Go download it now - there is a new setting in the ini file called "Daily Offers". 1 = yes (default).

Enjoy guys and gals!

Trouble with scheduling?

This weekend I built up a desktop from some old crappy bits in my garage and put a PCI wifi card in it. Lo and behold, scheduling on it was crap - it would totally screw up the first 1 or 2 accounts until the monitor finally woke up and then it would work like a charm.

So, I wrote a monitor wake routine into the header of the program and, voila', she's raking in the Bing credits! Scheduling should work much better now (especially if you have a shitty computer built from garage bits!).