Google's AdSense API: the Cash-Rewards-for-User-Contribution Trend
RateItAll.com blew the AdSense API news a little early as Ionut at the Google Operating System blog noted today.

It appears that the API will primarily enable networks to pay cash to the people contributing content.

Um... this could be potentially HUGE for sites like YouTube... And do consider that Google's including video ads for AdSense publishers.

Here's a little snippet from the leaked press release:

By leveraging the Google AdSense API, RateItAll has enabled its members to create Google AdSense accounts, earn cash for their content contributions, and track their earnings without ever leaving the RateItAll.com Web site."

The AdSense API (which Yahoo and MSN will follow suit with for certain) will enable a whole new breed of publishing site and begin to monetize that longtail of amateur/hyper-niche content creation by users, fans and reviewers.

Note this story from ClickZ today: Pew: Nearly 50 MM Americans Create Web Content.

The AdSense API (and resulting APIs from other players) will drive this increase in content generation by "the masses" through a major increase in the trend towards paying users.

And imagine if MySpace somehow rewarded their users monetarily...

Rants in my pants...
I find this trend towards rewarding users with cash a bit troublesome though. I don't have any problem with cash (send as much as you want!), but as soon as people start contributing to sites because of a monetary reward they're going to start gaming the system.

Which was kind of the beauty of the whole Web 2.0 social media/wisdom of crowds movement - folks capitalized on the wisdom/experience of others by participating, and the participation itself is the reward. When there's no cash involved I think you get a more-pure experience.

If Flikr paid its users to post images for example... would the same community have sprung up there? How about Delicious? If folks were paid to post their links, would the site be as valuable?

I inherently distrust people who publish solely for monetary gain, as opposed to people who post out of passion for a topic or subject.

I think - in the longer term - the sites that reward users with an increase in knowledge vs. an increase in cash will be stronger contributors to the web.

That said, I'm *VERY* excited to see how this will develop, and what kinds of sites and models will emerge.

This is very exciting stuff from Google I must say!

(I believe the DigitalPoint forum rewards its contributors with cash - would love to hear from anyone there on how that works out...)

Other sites that reward content contributors:
PreFound
stories just from *today*:
SugarMama: Watch Ads, Earn Minutes
Gather Shares Ad Dollars with Contributors

links:
Eric Giguere got the original scoop: The new Google AdSense API
Here's Ionut: AdSense API To Be Launched

More coverage:
Battelle: New Google AdSense API: User Gen Monetization Ho!
Sterling: Cash for Content: RateItAll to Share Revenues
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |