Generate unique non-reusable links without attaching to contacts | XM Community
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I have a project where I need to easily recruit new people to participate in a survey, but the issue is scammers keep getting ahold of our public survey URL and completing it multiple times. In the past we have run some paid surveys, and that is likely the issue (though this one is unpaid). 

Now, I have tried using qualtrics security measures, but the issue is these scammers change their email, ip address, browser, etc, using some sophisticated tools and we suddenly get inundated with numerous survey completions every minute coming from all over the world, mostly with gmail accounts that look like complete gibberish. Of course, the problem is, this makes it very hard to sort through and look for authentic completions, and we’ve likely thrown out some legit completions just because they had a questionable gmail account.

Now, the only option seems to be to make personalized links, but this is very limiting. For example, on a forum we run, someone said they would like to complete the survey, and now I would like to just send them a one-time use link, but I can’t without going through the laborious process of adding them to the contact list and generating a link for them, etc. This a process that takes many clicks through various pages in qualtrics to accomplish and is not user friendly.

What would be ideal is to have a spreadsheet downloaded to my computer with a bunch of one-time use unique links that I could easily give to individuals as they volunteer, but as far as I can tell you must choose either the flawed anonymous link with security method or the laborious personalized link method. 

This has been such a pain point for me as a qualtrics customer, that I’m now willing to take the time to write this long post, in the hope that there is either a solution that I’m missing or that qualtrics will take note of this issue and provide a better solution.

 

PS. Qualtrics if you’re listening… when you sign up for this support community, if you type in an already-in-use username, it clears the form. This is terrible UX.

Hello @DrBailey -- thank you for calling attention to the sign up process. I will notify our vendor and see if they can investigate and resolve the issue. 

Additionally, I can escalate the issue you outlined regarding survey participants and see if perhaps someone with some knowledge on the issue might have some suggestions. 

In the meantime, feel free to give us more information on this thread and let me know how I can assist further. 

Hello there, @DrBailey -- 

Thanks for your patience while I escalated your question internally to the team! 

I received the following reply:

“Technically speaking the customer is right that they would have to go through a contact list setup process as well as generating a list of personal links. This can be time consuming to do for sure. Not knowing their entire setup yet, as well as their license coverage, I could think of two approaches:

  1. Creating contact list with fake contact information (screenshot below), upload it to a contact list and generate personal links on the base of this contact list. This will supply the customer with a spreadsheet containing personalised, one-time use links, that they can simply use as a source for links. The spreadsheet format also allows them to mark used links off the list or add a column for the actual recipient manually. Here is what such an example spreadsheet would look like.
  2. We could create a very barebones survey asking for the email of the recipient in a text entry field with email address validation, attach an XM Directory workflow task to this survey which will send an email invitation to the entered recipient email. This will not only distribute the email invitations to the recipient, but also create a contact for that email address inside a contact list. The idea here would be that the customer can take the survey, even on mobile if needed, enter the recipients email address and submit the response. The rest is taken care by the workflow.

If any of these two options work for the customer, and they need additional support in achieving this setup, I would recommend they file a support ticket so we can assist them by logging into their account.”

Screenshot:

 

Hi Michael, this is helpful. I had considered doing a fake email list but wasn’t sure if this would make a mess of my directory. I may just go that route. One question, when someone takes the survey based on one of these links, is there a method to overwrite their fake email using one they input during the survey? Thanks!

Hi Michael, this is helpful. I had considered doing a fake email list but wasn’t sure if this would make a mess of my directory. I may just go that route. One question, when someone takes the survey based on one of these links, is there a method to overwrite their fake email using one they input during the survey? Thanks!

Hi @DrBailey -- glad the info is helpful! Regarding your question, I think the best route to take would be to contact our Support team. They have much more expertise in this area than I do 😀

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