A few days ago we posted an article talking about the horribly invasive ads popping up on our Android devices thanks to some apps in the Market using an ad system dubbed Airpush. It was probably the worst marketing idea we’ve since the beginning of this Android thing and it was unanimous that nobody wanted it on their devices, and we wouldn’t use apps that displayed those ads.
Today, we have a new type of ad system. I know what you’re thinking “KILL IT WITH FIRE!” but would you believe that there is an app on the Market that actually PAYS YOU to view ads on your phone? Now that I have your attention, Tooyoou is an app in the Market that allows you to place a small banner ad on your homescreen in the form of a widget and you get paid through your Paypal account for as long as the widget stays there. Essentially, the company is giving you a percentage of the ad-revenue they’re making off these ads and you don’t have to do anything but give up some precious screen real estate. Easy right?
If you guys have learned one thing about me by now it’s that I like to save my monies. So think about it. Even if you’re only making somewhere around $4-5 a month on these ads (a very optimistic estimate), anyone with good financial sense would tell you to save that money and by the time your contract is up, you can a little sting out of upgrading to that new device.
This app is very new and there are a few things I’m wary on. For one, Tooyoou requires a lot of permissions which always makes me a bit paranoid. Second, the app requires a constant data connection which has me wondering how this could potentially affect my battery life. I’ll have to give it a spin for a few days and keep a close eye on it. But what do you guys think? Excited to start making money off of your vacant homescreens? Or is the cost of yet another ad on your Android device enough to drive you mad?
UPDATE: I’ve been exchanging emails with Tooyoou and here are some clarifications:
1. Multiple widgets do not affect earnings.2. At any time user can go to Settings -> About Phone -> Battery -> Battery Use and check if Tooyoou uses substantial battery. Tooyoou is tested on multiple android devices and you will never see Tooyoou drain much battery or even show up in the delivered Android battery drain console.3. Payments go out automatically on the payment date through automated MassPay on our servers connected to Paypal. Users need not do anything at all.4. Tooyoou Android App users will not be able to log in to the tooyoou.com website with their app username and password. Website is for advertisers only and we have not released user features yet.5. How is payment calculated? We pay a substantial portion of the CPMs to users now. Clicking the Ad multiple times will not earn them anything. We are optimizing the algorithm so that better user behavior and more interaction with the App benefits them more.6. We wanted users to have a say/choice in mobile advertising. Coupled with their location you can imagine how valuable this space would be to advertisers going forward. We will be updating the App with more categories very soon.7. I have replied to most user questions until now and will continue to give my best effort in supporting them.8. Typical users have made about $2.50 a month.9. Tooyoou is US Patent Pending 61/424,399
