Squidblog

Yes, we just gave away $80,000 to charity. But it’s time to share the love with our lensmasters, too.

Some of you may notice that in next week’s royalty payout, you’re getting a little extra. A bit more than you expected. Turns out that this is true. You are getting a bit more.

We’re always tweaking our algorithms, always looking to improve the performance of our software and our systems. In a recent overhaul, we discovered that one of our algorithms was miscalculating part of the payment we were making to lensmasters.

Here’s a confession: We’ve been consistently overpaying everyone all along. While our terms of service have always allowed us to cover our losses before paying lensmasters, we never have. We’ve always paid out of the first dollar in.

Here’s another confession: Based on the miscalculation we found, we’ve also been underpaying you by a tiny percent. That part we didn’t know.

But the good news is that somehow, things wound up just about even. So to make triple sure that you come out ahead, we’ve authorized a one-time bonus adjustment. That means you’ll be getting a little extra next week. Some of you more than others, depending on how long you’ve been around. As they say when you play Monopoly, “Bank error in your favor…” Collect your bonus and pass Go. (But I still get to keep Baltic Avenue).

Another important change you’ll notice is that we’re paying your refer-a-friend bounties sooner.

And as if that wasn’t enough, good news from the eBay front. Remember that reporting problem on their referral bonuses? Fixed. Retroactively. eBay paid us, which means we can pay you. Which means if you’ve referred a successful new eBay member to their site in the last few months, you’ll be seeing a nice chunk of change in your Squidoo royalties.

So that’s the update. Enjoy!