Getting paid for clicking ads

Users can turn their personal information into cash in the bank, under a new deal from electronic currency firm CyberGold and the First of Omaha bank.

The two companies have set up a system where you receive CyberGold "coins" in exchange for viewing enhanced ads, filling in personal information and completing transactions online. Those coins can then be automatically transferred to a credit card account at First of Omaha, where you can pay off your credit card bills.

It works like so: After you submit the information or look at the pre-designated ad, you click a button marked "spend." The CyberGold currency is automatically transferred to your Visa account at First of Omaha over a private network, to enhance security.

Since CyberGold users have already provided the Berkeley, Calif., company with the relevant information, the transaction takes place without further input from the user.

"This will change business on the Web entirely," said Nat Goldhaber, president of CyberGold, in a statement. "The link between the Internet and the real world continues to strengthen."