What is Amazon Turk?
Put simply, Amazon Turk is a
largely growing market place for work which requires human intelligence. Some
of the task on Amazon Turk are writing product descriptions, transcribing audio
files and videos, doing research for companies, selecting objects from pictures
or videos, or searching data details. The entire site is based solely on marketers
needing research they believe only a human can do.
When a company or developer needs
tasks done, they can assess Amazon Turk’s market place and create a HIT (Human
Intelligence Tasks). These HITs pay mostly in pennies but can add up over time,
and take hardly any time to complete.
Is Amazon Turk a Scam?
This can only be answered in two
parts; the first part being Amazon Turk, and the second being the company or
developer. Let’s take a look at both of them in retrospect.
Amazon Turk does exactly what it
says it will do; it provides work from the companies or developers, sends them
out to the worker, and pays the worker when the company or developer approves
the work. Amazon Turk is not a scam.
Now, just because Amazon Turk is
not a scam, doesn’t mean that there aren’t companies or developers who use it
to scam people. Let me explain. In order for a worker to gain any money, the
company or developer must approve the work. There are a few bad apples which
use the company to get work done with no intentions of paying the worker.
Amazon Turk does its best to get rid of these companies and developers before
they can cause any more damage.
How to Avoid Scammers on Amazon Turk
1. If
an HIT ask for your name, address, or credit card information, report it to
Amazon Turk and avoid them. It is policy for no one to ask this vital
information from the workers.
2. Jobs
that offer high pay for less work should also be avoided. A company is not
going to offer you a large amount when they can get the same work from another
worker for less.
3. There
are forums dedicated to Amazon Turk. These forums help workers and can teach
you methods on developing a better profile, taking test, scammers, and keeps
you up to date on new developments with Amazon Turk.
4. The
Turkopticon toolbar can help you determine if someone might be a scammer since
it will show you reviews by other Mechanical Turk workers. Here you can see if
someone rejected a MTurk HIT without good reason.
The Possibilities of Earning with Amazon’s Mechanical Turk
From everything I have seen on the
site, the pay is low – often from 1 cent to $5. Most of these task is fairly
quick to do, and pay can add up quickly.
Read the instructions carefully. If
you do not follow the instructions exactly as they say, you take the chance of
not getting paid. The HIT’s are precise in what they want the worker to do.
Try to finish any task that you
start. Mechanical Turk keeps track of HIT’s you take and the ones you complete.
No finishing a HIT can result in a worker only getting lower paid HITs. Others
can see your profile and rating.
Developing your typing skills is a
must. HITs are timed and need to be completely as quickly as possible. The
faster you can move through the HITs; the more money you can make.
Some hits require you to take a
usability test. This test is important and can help you earn more by opening up
other hits that pay higher. The usability test doesn’t take long and can be
worth it.
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk does pay,
but not enough for someone to live comfortably. There have been reports of
users making upwards of $10 an hour but this seems hard to accomplish. Although
Amazon Turk is a legitimate site, it would be almost impossible for anyone to
earn a substantial amount to replace even a part-time job.
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk is something
people tend to do in their spare time, such as watching tv, or when they are
taking a break from something else.
If you are looking for ways to make
a full-time income from home, there are definitely better options available.
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