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November 09, 2005

Amazon's Mechanical Turk

Mechanical Turk

I'm going to follow the development of Amazon's Mechanical Turk service closely. I'm not sure if it's an original idea but Amazon is implementing and branding it well. I wonder how much you can make an hour working the Turk? 

Amazon's: What is Amazon Mechanical Turk 

Amazon Mechanical Turk provides a web services API for computers to integrate "artificial, artificial intelligence" directly into their processing by making requests of humans.

Complete simple tasks that people do better than computers. And, get paid for it. Learn more.

This is a good example of how the service can be used.

Some of the tasks currently in the marketplace benefit Amazon’s search subsidiary A9.com. Amazon Mechanical Turk is being used to increase the quality of A9’s BlockView pictures that show users street-level pictures of businesses. These HITs ask people to select from several photographs the one that best presents the front of a business. Thousands of these HITs are still listed on the Amazon Mechanical Turk web site.

How does Amazon make money from Amazon Mechanical Turk?

Amazon.com collects a fee of 10 percent on top of what Requesters pay to have tasks completed. For example, if a HIT pays $0.20, Amazon Mechanical Turk collects $0.02. The minimum commission charged is $0.005 per HIT.



Posted by Cale on Nov 9, 2005
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Comments

I spent a few hours with it. It seemed fun and a good way to earn a few exrta bucks. Unfortunately, in most of the pictures it is hard to find the business, and sometimes, it is the wrong block. I gave it my best, and they still rejected up to 50 percent of my submissions. I wrote to ask if the choice “none of the above” meant an automatic rejection, even when it is the correct choice, but there was no answer. In the end, working as fast as I could, I was able to finish 250 in one hour. Unfortunately, they rejected half, paying me 3.60 for my time. Do not waste your time with it! Pick up cans outside, you will make more money.

Posted by: Smirch | November 21, 2005 06:22 PM

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