In 2007, a rewards program came onto the scene called BuzzShed. The concept was that you’d get paid for watching video ads that were targeted to your demographics… like YouData does with charging advertisers (and paying their members) for targeted website traffic. This proved an unsuccessful model (as appears to be the case with YouData, as well).
BuzzShed tinkered with the model some, eliminating the rewards and going for more of a social networking angle, and that didn’t prove profitable, either.
Two weeks ago, BuzzShed director Hayden Saunders sent out an email to members saying that they were looking for a buyer or else they were going to have to consider shutting down the site, and to please pass the word to any entrepreneur-types that might be interested. He said that new signups were strong, that they have a loyal core of active members, and that monetizing traffic through links, banners, and contextual ads had not been tried yet and might be a viable way of generating income.
I know I have some rewards program reps that visit CompareRewards pretty frequently. If you think there may be some synergies there between a video advertising platform and your rewards program, please contact hayden (at) buzzshed (dot) com.
