Paid Crowdsourcing

The Process of Paid Crowdsourcing

The process involved with this kind of work can vary depending on the company offering the work. In the past when paid crowdsourcing was starting out companies would seek out people to perform the work or even use their own teams as part of the crowd. In these situations, a company would post online asking people to get involved in their project. Some still do this, however, it is more and more common now for a company to outsource to specific crowdsourcing companies such as clickworker.

Here you get more information about the solutions of clickworker!

The Benefits of Outsourcing

Many companies these days require microwork to be done, especially those in the development and AI sector. Therefore, to develop products companies will realise that a human touch is going to be required at some point. However, this can require the use of a very large crowd and this isn’t something many companies have at their disposal. They could seek out a large crowd as mentioned previously but this is very time consuming and can cause issues later on down the line.

Reasons to Outsource Paid Crowdworking

Paying overtime to current staff can cost a fortune. Or if a very large crowd is needed, recruitment and advertising can also be very expensive. Furthermore, the company will have to screen those workers, ensuring they are qualified or able to do the tasks required. Additionally, software for the workers to use will have to be created and maintained. This along with monitoring and quality control means that outsourcing can save you a lot of money.

Outsourcing to a company like clickworker means that you’ll know that workers are being monitored. Those who are underperforming can be retrained or removed from a project. Also, output can be screened via a validation team leading to a superior level of data.

Utilising a crowdsourcing company leaves you time to do other things. Deadlines can be controlled by the company and met when a very large crowd is used. For example, clickworker has over 4.5 million registered workers as of 2023. With a crowd this large, what seems like a never ending project could be completed in a matter of days.

Paying workers is simple when they’re on a company payroll. However, when they’re only being used for a limited time and classed as independent contractors or freelancers then arranging payment can be a bother. It can take time, research, money and effort to find a solution that suits everyone. Additionally, some workers in certain countries may not be able to access money in the same way. Using a crowdsourcing company alleviates this struggle. For example, clickworker offers payment to workers all across the world in various formats such as PayPal, SEPA bank transfer and Payoneer.

When using a crowdsourcing company you won’t have to worry about providing workers with access to your company software or even creating any specific software at all. This creates security as you don’t have to be concerned about temporary workers gaining access to the wrong things or seeing information that they shouldn’t. Confidentiality will be taken care of with workers agreeing not to share details of any projects as part of their affiliation with the crowdworking company.

Who is Involved?

In the past few years, a few market leaders have emerged in the paid crowdsourcing sector. clickworker is one of the international leaders with several million registered workers from all over the world. In 2005 Amazon launched their Mechanical Turk site offering basic tasks to workers. Other companies include Appen, Telus, StreetSpotr, and AppJobber. All have their own way of working, their own platforms and typical projects.

How Paid Crowdsourcing Helps

In the past, there have been many cases of companies asking people to volunteer their time unpaid. Examples of this are the NASA Clickworkers project, Mozilla, SETI@Home etc. These crowdworking projects relied on people to be generous and simply help the cause. However, these days people are often more expecting and will want to be paid for their time, especially if it involves detailed or lengthy work.

Paying workers helps those who may not be able to work outside the home, students who have limited time, disabled people, and those who simply wish to add to their existing income. Unfortunately, some platforms out there do not pay well but companies such as clickworker ensure payment is as fair as possible. For those looking for paid crowdsourcing it’s wise to check certain things. Reviews on official sites, blogs, and in the case of clickworker membership of independent organisations. These organisations ask crowdsourcing companies to adhere to a code of conduct, one of which is fair pay.