User:Amarcuvitz/sandbox

Earned payment (not to be confused with Earned media) refers to an online payment method whereby a user voluntarily trades cooperation in a specific activity as the basis for a transactional payment for something such as online content. To the payee, an earned payment is equivalent to a conventional payment (e.g. credit card, PayPal) in that the payee receives a defined payment amount in local currency from a payment service provider on behalf of the payer. It coexists with and is a natural alternative to traditional online payment methods.

To the earner, this method allows him/her to earn storable and spendable money that can be used to purchase online content, subscriptions, etc. by attentively engaging with ads, completing surveys, visiting specific websites, etc. Additionally, earned payment may be combined with traditional payment so a particular transaction may be paid for partially by each method. Earned payment can be a particularly convenient way to purchase content or services that the user expects to be free and can be viewed as kind of micro-payment. Because it appeals to "pay-averse" but not necessarily dishonest users who are surrounded by abundant opportunities to illegally avoid online purchases, it tends to be a countervailing force to online piracy.

To the publisher/merchant, it enables online payment for discretely priced transactions that can appeal to the market segment of potential consumers who would otherwise  not purchase due to price, illegal availability, or inconvenience. Earned payment is therefore a desirable alternative to traditional monetization techniques such as in-line ad units or subscription pricing both of which which amount to bulk-discounting because the absence of a discrete price breaks the link between the amount consumed and the amount paid.

The source of earnings is an entity that wishes to engage specific classes of users in activities for which they will be compensated. For example, an advertiser may make a specific offer of monetary value to a specific type of earner in return for his/her attentive engagement with an advertisement. This represents a payer/payee monetary transaction between the advertiser and the earner facilitated by the payment processor.

Earning is independent of spending in time and place
The earning activity is not tied in any way to the item that will be paid for. The earning may occur before the earner has selected the item to purchase or even before it exists. If policy permits the extension of credit, earned payment may occur after a item is purchased. Earning may be done on one online device at one time (such as a mobile phone), and purchase/payment can occur at another time on a different device (such as an internet TV or media center PC).

This represents a marked departure from current practice where, for example, ad-units are intentionally tied to sought-after content for targeting purposes and in the attempt to efficiency monetize it. The independence of earning and spending necessarily implies that the earning activity cannot in advance be tied to what will be purchased because that is not known.

Given that content and services offered online all have to be paid for, the separation of earning and payment make it possible to remove monetization "speed bumps" that delay initial access or interfere with the user experience.

Control is in the hands of the earner
The decision to earn and the decision to engage in the specific activities entailed, are made solely by the earner. The earner may pick and choose, start, stop, skip, and abort the earning activity(s) he/she engages in. The full control that the earners have is in contrast to, for example, the common practice of using in-line, pre-roll, or interstitial ads that require the user's attention before some access is granted as a means of monetization. In these cases the user does not have the opportunity to judge in advance whether the activity required is worth what it gets him/her. These monetization techniques generally serve to obscure the discrete price actually paid where with earned payment the user is solely responsible for making a classical purchase decision based on whether the activities he/she is asked to participate in are worth what they will pay for.

Creates storable value
Participation in earning activities adds to a monetary balance held in an account associated with and owned by the earner by the payment service provider. Earnings balances can be built without regard to the ultimate purchases to which they will be applied. Compared to the prevalent ad-supported online monetization methods, earned payment transfers value from advertisers to users as opposed to publishers. Publishers, in turn, are paid by earners desiring content or services.

Acceptable for payment
Payments are made from the user's account on behalf of the user by the payment service provider in local currency. Earned payment may therefore be used for any type of online payment subject to the policy of the payee.

Non-properties of earned payment

 * 1) Earnings are not virtual money or credits, although the same concepts can be applied.  Earnings are real money, however policies designed to prevent fraud may place limitations on earning and spending.
 * 2) Earned payment is not a way to earn money online but is a way to pay for things that you expect to be free with money you earn for that purpose.  Services such as Jingit are solely focused on online earning rather than the direct payment capability.
 * 3) Earned payment does not imply a loss of privacy or private information.  There are examples of earned payment systems that protect user privacy much more comprehensively than the standards set by the largest online companies.
 * 4) Earnings are non-transferable so therefore an Earned payment system cannot be used to transfer funds.

Examples
HitBliss, a company in Lexington, MA, uses Earned payment in combination with hyper-behavioral targeting, extreme privacy protection, and attention assurance to enable users to earn premium content that can't be economically made available on an ad-supported basis.