Google has announced a new service called Google Consumer Surveys to provide cheap market research for firms, but it could also act as an alternative to paywalls for online publishers.
Users can create a simple survey in minutes and have it answered by people around the world. The surveys are embedded in online publishing sites and readers will have to answer a quick question in order to access the content.
Sample survery question
For each answer the publisher will earn 5 US cent and a few US publishers have already signed up to host the surveys – including AdWeek and the New York Daily News.
On the other side, survey creators will pay 10 cent per answer and up to 50 cent for custom audiences. Google claims it will provide quick cheap and unbiased market research.
“Right now, our focus is on rolling this out and seeing how it can help companies and publishers meet their business objectives,” said a Google spokesperson.
This could be a new revenue stream for cash-strapped publishers around the globe but will people answer the survey questions accurately or will they just click on the first button they see in the same way they close pop up ads without reading them?
Google’s video below explains how the new service works.
