Thank You Mahalo?

Post Published on November 24, 2010.
Last Updated on November 29, 2017 by davemackey.

I signed up for Mahalo way back in the day – when Jason Calacanis first launched the company. I surfed around a bit and then abandoned the site without much thought. Perhaps a few months ago I was invited to write an article I had requested to write months (years?) before…I ignored it (the pay wasn’t good enough) but it popped Mahalo into the back of my mind. I don’t remember how, but I ended up on the site again and began answer some questions on Mahalo Answers. I had perhaps $10 to start with (where did that come from?) and the questions were pretty easy – I could answer one or more in a minute or two – and they generally paid out at $1/ea. Right now my balance is up to $27 – not bad…though this is only $.75 to the dollar when “cashed out” according to little notices all over the site.

When I get bored or am waiting for something else to happen, etc. it is a productive little time waster…but it feels a bit like so many other programs I was part of in the past (anyone remember AllAdvantage?) – that didn’t seem to have a sustainable form of income.

So…I’m still answering a few questions, but growing more hesitant as time passes…and if I may, I’d like to pose a few questions to the folks over at Mahalo:

• Is Mahalo making any money?
• When I answer a question it says I can “cash out” to PayPal when I reach $150 – but in the Terms of Service it says that as of July 30, 2010 cash outs are not allowed – which is right?
• If Mahalo is making any money – lets get it popularized…why should people use Yahoo! Answers when they can get paid to use Mahalo?
• Ummm…the Advertising page doesn’t seem to be about advertising.
• How Mahalo Tasks Works and Mahalo Page Management Guide both need to be updated…its not very clear what systems still exist and which don’t. For example, from the ToS it appears that there is not an open writing system anymore but more of an About.com system?
• Don’t you think having articles like “Playboy Photoshop Scandal?” is going to significantly limit traffic by some of your prime target audience – e.g. middle school and high school students performing research?
• Uhhhohh…the blog doesn’t exist – can we have that back?