Comments on: Are social gaming offers scamming users? A detailed analysis of Techcrunch’s Scamville article

By: Bowen Paul

Bowen Paul — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:48:46 +0000

Andrew - you make sense when most don't. I think the next iteration for payment walls will be someone like Quidco. See my reasoning here: http://virtualcurrency.wordpress.com/

By: Susan Su

Susan Su — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:06:13 +0000

Hey Andrew,

We're hearing tons of interest from publishers about Gambit Tasks, but you're right about there being a supply-side problem. Crowdflower supplies the inventory to Gambit, but there's a huge (not fully met) audience demand for these tasks because they're such a favorable alternative to lead-gen offers. Also, if you consider the reach of our publishers - connecting to all those millions of social gamers on FB - then it's not surprising how quickly Task inventory gets depleted.

It's encouraging to see that the hypothesis that users would want to do manual, web-based tasks for 'virtual crotchless fursuits' is valid, but, by my measure, there's still plenty of room to improve the execution.

For now, publishers are pumped, users are happily Task-ing when they can, and the suppliers (Gambit and Crowdflower) are toiling intensely to bring more task-buyers into the system.

Susan

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:18:47 +0000

Cool concept, and lots of room to growh. My guess right now is that it's buyer-side constrained and there aren't enough companies buying crowdflower services to keep up with the massive number of time-rich people online who can do menial tasks in exchange for discounted prices on virtual crotchless fursuits.

By: Devon Watts

Devon Watts — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:15:45 +0000

LOL — I don't work there anymore!! Seriously though… thoughts?

By: Devon Watts

Devon Watts — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:09:43 +0000

An interesting twist on these offers: CrowdFlower (Dolores Labs) has partnered with Gambit to give game currency in exchange for completion of microtasks. Sounds like a win-win to me… what do you think, Andrew? http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/techn....

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:07:52 +0000

Devon, there is no advertising allowed on my blog!!!

By: Devon Watts

Devon Watts — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:05:45 +0000

By: markskaggs

markskaggs — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:42:30 +0000

I call the situation with leadgen companies an “unstable energy pattern”. They won't last in their current form and whether they get cleaned up by regulation or self destruct because of harsh competition, they will change. I appreciate the clear and thoughtful nature you bring the this discussion.

By: chrissmutny

chrissmutny — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:32:08 +0000

Andrew,

I appreciate the time you took to write up your thoughts on this relatively young industry. We're listening intently to feedback from users, publishers, advertisers, and our platform partners. Please check out what we're doing to continue to improve our performance: http://www.srpoints.com/blog/?p=1541.

I would love to have more feedback from you and your reader base on an ongoing basis.

Chris Smutny
Super Rewards

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:36:52 +0000

Fair enough, and I agree that TC loves to sensationalize stuff

By: csun

csun — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:52:10 +0000

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy your reading your blog. I wasn't trying to criticize your points. Your thoughts on the user experience problems are valid. I know some offers are shady and they make users upset that they've been duped. I was only criticizing Arrington who likes to stir the pot and sensationalize it. For him to play a few Facebook apps, look at few offers and then refer to Zynga and offer networks as “bad guys” and “unethical” is ridiculous.

By: prasen88

prasen88 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:35:32 +0000

Yep, definitely. Apple and Google have always prioritized user experience over everything else.

I want to discuss a few things relating to high end Flash based social gaming with you. Is there a good chance you'll reply @ voodoo or should I try my luck here ?

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:27:46 +0000

There's definitely a bunch of crap on Google, but they have done a great job over the years of prioritizing user experience over monetization. In particular, they display less ads on searches, they have a mysterious “quality score,” and they even check your capitalization when you're creating ads.

By: Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:25:46 +0000

have you used offers before? If not, try them, because you'll learn something: They are awful.

I am both defending the offers industry in that I think there is some value there, but at the same time, offers are terrible. I think the link you sent me is full of denials, and doesn't take responsibility for any part of the obvious user experience problems.

By: BigDoor Media, Inc.

BigDoor Media, Inc. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:12:35 +0000

Great summary Andrew. You are correct that there is a big industry to be created here, but when a nascent model sprouts and grows this quickly it often gets out of control. Water flows to its lowest level, so it is a great thing for all the players in this space that some dikes are being erected. It may have been a painful weekend for the Offerpal management – but they will likely thank Arrington in the long-run.

Monetization of users and content by its very nature is not typically welcomed by consumers, but it absolutely has to be consumer friendly. This whole uproar will provide a healthy scrubbing for what I predict will turn into a long-term sustainable industry.