What If You Could Click A Button And A Sponsor Would Pay A Site Money (Without It Being Clickfraud)?

from the rethinking-payments dept

Tue, Aug 31st 2010 10:42pm — Mike Masnick

I recently wrote about Flattr and how it's a different take on micropayments that seems more interesting to me (though I'm still not convinced it'll get big enough to make a difference). In that post, I also noted a competitor, Kachingle. Apparently, another company is about to enter the space, named Twixa, but it has a slight twist on the concept. Rather than asking users of a site to click a button to pay with their own money, the "ThankThis" offering from Twixa gets a sponsor to pay the money. Basically, any time you clicked the "Thank This" button (which looks similar to the Flattr button), rather than some of your money going to the site, a sponsor's money goes to the site. Of course, it also puts up a simple ad, which is how the sponsor finds this worthwhile. In some ways it's almost a direct play on the fact that some sites ask people to click on their ads to get cost-per-click cash from advertisers -- even though that's often frowned upon as a form of "click fraud." In this case, however, it's encouraged with the participation of sponsors. I'm still not convinced that enough people would really click to make a difference, but it is quite interesting to see how this space is evolving.

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Filed Under: business models, micropayments, sponsors
Companies: twixa

8 Comments

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Sal, 31 Aug 2010 @ 10:48pm

I could see this working in some situations. If Coca-Cola pays my micropayment, I might think 'thanks Coke, I'll get you next time.'
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Aug 2010 @ 11:58pm

I thought The Hunger Site went online in 1999.

Everything old is, as usual, new again.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Sep 2010 @ 12:31am

still wont see them, ad block rules
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Sep 2010 @ 4:04am

I'd actually click quite a bit. There's a lot of sites I'd like to reward financially, but I'm not going to send them a donation, and I'm not going to stop blocking ads (I'd never click anyway).

But this way, finding a genuine partnership, where a company is willing to let its ad be hidden until someone indicates they want to see it?? Wow. It makes me like the company a little better to begin with. I'd almost click just to see who would advertise like that.

And if Pepsi is routinely supporting my favorite webcomic.
(http://www.gunnerkrigg.com), I'd definitely buy pepsi next time I need a HFCS infused beverage with caffeine.
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Nick Tann, 1 Sep 2010 @ 5:23am

I could find this VERY useful...
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Sep 2010 @ 8:07am

Re:
That's why I think there is a difference between invention and innovation. Old things may not have worked because they were implemented incorrectly, so someone comes along and implements it better. I don't see that as a reason to give money to the original failed inventor though. First you must prove that the new innovators even knew about, yet alone benefited, from the previous invention. Perhaps they independently came up with an improved version of the same/a similar invention.
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sumquy, 1 Sep 2010 @ 11:53am

good idea
I would absolutely click on a thank you button to reward a site that had a good informative article that I liked. As long as the ad wasn't obnoxious (easily closed, doesn't take me away from the website, etc.) The last point does seem to be the most relevant in this case, however, this does seem ripe for click fraud. Plus I don't know how effective it would be, but that may be just me. I don't remember ever in my life buying something because of an ad, but I can remember lots of cases where I switched brands on something or stopped going to a website because of overly "aggresive" advertising.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2010 @ 5:23pm

I would thank TechDirt
I don't know if I would pay techdirt directly, but I could see myself clicking a thankthis button on techdirt. I don't think ALL the articles would be worth it, but a few would, and it enough did it, it could cover a beer or keg for you guys, and you would know it was because of your readers. It might not be much, but it would be a nice nod to your efforts.
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