Redmond, Washington — Looking to earn a few dollars and help Microsoft make Bing more visual? Well, it looks like the Redmond Vole wanted to save some time and money in creating image results for its Bing search engine and has linked up with iPhone-toting users of Gigwalk, a startup that pays people to take panoramic and 3-D images and do other small tasks with their iPhones for its Bing Map.
If you have not heard of Gigwalk, a California based startup that unleashed its service less than two months ago, obtains the help of iPhone users, a.k.a. Gigwalkers, to capture images and posts location-based “gigs” for users of its iPhone app.
These often necessitates snapping a photo in a particular place requested by the poster of the gig. Once the task is accomplished, the Gigwalk user that accepts and completes the assignment receives a predetermined pay for the job. Microsoft apparently decided that this was the easiest and most economical way to go in stocking up on Bing photos.
It will do so using the on-demand job board Gigwalk, which boasts 110,000 “gigs” just 9 weeks after its launch.
Bing Mobile lead program manager David Gedye quoted as saying in a statement to AllThingsD:
By associating Gigwalk’s tech-savvy mobile force with our popular Photosynth app, we are able to add impressive panoramas to Bing local search results, so people can accurately see the details of a business such as a store or restaurant. Gigwalk’s network delivers high-quality results, often within 24 hours, and that is hard to beat.
Gigwalk CEO Ariel Seidman said incorporating panoramic photos taken by Gigwalkers will add tremendous value to Bing Maps.
Gigwalk is a mobile app that empowers brands to post odd jobs, or “gigs,” that need real-time consideration. For instance, taking a photo of a menu, verifying a street name, confirming product placements in stores, etc. The company, which can only survive on the willingness and availability of its workforce, has already signed up 50,000 “employees” on-call.
The Mountain View, Calif., startup launched publicly in May and began offering gigs in Seattle earlier this month. The newly launched service doles out to Gigwalkers anywhere from $3 to $50 to perform on-location “gigs,” tasks for a 20-60 minute gig, but can reach upwards of a $90 pay day.
The company now delivers services in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Miami. This means that those with work-ADD or those with job market blues can make a little cash, while brands take advantage of cheaper crowdsourcing.
“We are the Craigslist jobs category meets Monster meets Linkedin,” explained Ariel Seidman, co-founder and chief executive of Gigwalk. Seidman’s desire is to grow a reputable workforce of locals who build up “street cred” and can be counted on for bigger projects.
Gigwalk has linked up with a few big customers, including Tom Tom and MenuPages. But Microsoft, which recently ran a successful trial of the service in New York, is a big addition for the company.
“If you do a query for a restaurant, café or bar, seeing is believing,” he said. “So if you get just a couple standard photos, it does not really give you the full picture of what is that like, but if you get a panoramic view, you can make a really good decision about if you want to take a date there or take your family there.”
“With the inclusion of Bing, we have boosted the volume of available Gigs – empowering our Gigwalkers to easily earn a second income while on their way to and from work or while exploring their neighborhood on the weekend,” added Seidman.
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Moreover, to participate, Gigwalkers have to download the company’s app to an iPhone. Besides, an Android version is just under the hood. Seidman said he is also interested in building a Windows Phone version especially now as Microsoft is its biggest partner by far.