Moola Invitations: Free Money for Playing Silly Flash Games
Via The Thinking Blog, I learned about Moola (that’s a referral link–here’s a vanilla one if you prefer). It’s a Canadian, online Flash game network that enables you to win money based on a ladder system. From Wikipedia:
Players receive free credits to wage against other players in return for watching a 10, 15 or 30-second video advertisement and answering a trivia question related to the ad. By extending credits to the viewer of the advertisment, players have funds to place bets against other players without risking any of their own money. These player may then ‘cash out’ the accumulated winnings for real cash once a suitable amount has been reached.
They have three games at the moment. I just played four rounds of Gold Rush, and finally won on the fourth attempt. Now I have two cents! There’s a bit of a thrill in playing against other humans for tiny amounts of money, but none of the games are as good or addictive as, say, Desktop Tower Defence.
Anyhow, I think it’s an interesting model. Essentially it’s a micropayment system where consumers are paid for watching ads. They just happen to be able to bet that money after they earn it. Is it, in legal terms, gambling? I’m unsure. Interestingly, you’re not allowed to access the site if you’re a resident of Quebec, Louisiana or Nevada.
If you want to give it a try, feel free to sign up via my referral link. Then I might have $0.024!
