Get Paid to Search
Scour Gives Points for Browsing
If you are a power searcher who spends all day on Yahoo, Google or MSN, then Scour wants to pay you to, well, scour the web. Scour is a search engine too, but they aggregate results from the top three as well as collect reviews and feedback from other members. Scour also gives you points which can be redeemed for cash. 6,500 points gets you a $25 Visa gift card. Users are rewarded one point for searching, two points for votes, three points for a comment, maxing out at four per search. 1,625 searches for $25? Meh.
Trend Themes
1. Paid Search - The trend of incentivizing web search by offering monetary rewards, providing opportunities to monetize search habits.
2. Social Search - The trend of integrating social features into search engines, democratizing the search process through user-generated feedback.
3. Reward-based Marketing - The trend of marketing through gamification by rewarding users for specific behaviors, providing opportunities to increase customer engagement and loyalty.
Industry Implications
1. Search Engine Platforms - Search engines can leverage reward-based marketing and social features, providing opportunities to compete with the top three while incentivizing users.
2. Marketing and Advertising - Marketing and advertising companies can leverage reward-based marketing, providing opportunities to increase customer engagement and loyalty.
3. E-commerce and Retail - E-commerce and retail businesses can partner with search engines that offer reward programs, providing incentives for users to make purchases through specific channels.