Mountain View, California — Internet giant Google continued to unfold its stream of products, and the company has quietly unfurled Prizes.org, a social contest website that allows people to set up competitions and offer cash prizes to winners, during Fourth of July weekend.
This latest crowd-sourcing competition site is the latest in Google’s barrage of product launches, released in Beta format on Sunday, July 3, was created by Google Slide — a largely autonomous division of Google, acquired in 2010, specializing in app and widget development, which promises cash prizes for the best answers to user-created questions.
Essentially Google Prizes is a competition site that allows users to create “contests” where they post questions or tasks, and offers cash for solutions, advice or creations. Users can sign up to the site using their Facebook or Twitter accounts (Google accounts are not an option); once logged in users are then presented with a series of competitions, created by other users, each with a different challenge, cash prize and time limit.
Examples of competitions posted by users include: asking for “hassle free trip-planning assistance,” “advice on naming a startup,” “best product for infants,” etc. Each post contains a time allotment for forum feedback, during which time visitors vote on the best advice submitted. The user who gains the most votes wins the cash, often a $10 to $50 prize.
Furthermore, users are required to sign in using either their Twitter or Facebook accounts, though it is astonishing that the new Google+ social network or even Google accounts are not linked to Prizes. Anyone can create a contest where others can solve problems or offer advice. Users of the site submit their solution, which is then voted on by other Prizes users, and when the time limit of that particular contest runs out two winners are chosen – one by the contest creator and one based on number of votes received.
“Prizes.org is a nerve center where you can create contests and let people compete for a prize of your choosing. The best submission wins the prize!,” the website’s FAQ explain.
Google considers that people can help solve one another’s problems and get paid for their deeds at the same time. Thus, as an incentive, contest creators post an amount in cash for the contest winners expertise. Each competition also has a cash prize attached which is posted by the creator of the competition.
However, the design of the website might look compelling to people keen on making an extra buck. The transactions on the website are handled by PayPal and not by Google Checkout.