Micro-task crowdsourcing platforms, a controversial revolution?
It all started back in 2005 when Amazon decided to launch its micro-task crowdsourcing platform to support the back-office activities of its market-place.
Whether it comes to categorizing products, enriching product sheets with additional information, or even moderating reviews; these digital tasks are time-consuming, repetitive but essential. It requires an important human workforce to provide quality content and an easy product search to improve the platform’s attractiveness.
Amazon could have just outsourced the above activities to traditional Business Process Outsourcing firms (BPOs). These giant companies that employ hundreds of thousands of workers and gather them within large offices. NO!
Amazon has decided to create BPO 2.0 with Amazon Mechanical Turk ; they have digitalised the activity through a platform that manages their back office activities and allows them to to have a remote workforce. The first digital micro-task crowdsourcing platform was launched!
In 2020, Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) is no longer the only service provider available, it is now competing with more than 100 platforms. This completely new business model is innovative and provides a large range of benefits for the different users. However, it can sometimes also lead to a sad disease- modern slavery.
One of the main benefits of the business model for the users (platform and clients) is cost-effectiveness but it’s also one of the consequences of this malfunction.
Instead of having to employ and face direct and indirect costs (social security contributions, pension, health insurance, equipment…), they use freelancers based in emerging countries. This strategy can help to cut down the costs up to 10x.
Freelancers also called contributors are paid for the tasks completed. The platform assigns a unit cost (amount paid to the contributor) for each task by estimating the average time spent per task (e.g categorizing one product) before referring it to an hourly rate. If there is no work available for the contributors, it’s charge-less for the platform.
Moreover, as the competition is growing very fast, platforms always strive to cut down their costs, and the contributor’s salary is the easiest one to aim. Some contributors get paid less than 0,20$ per hour while not benefiting from any social protection. Contributors can also be fired from the platform, without any reason, overnight and without the platform having to justify itself.
Thus, these platforms may be financially attractive for companies and clients, but their "extreme flexibility" makes contributors status very precarious.
Fortunately, there are a few platforms that are committed to value people first instead of profit! Solutions such as Sama or Imerit in the US and isahit in Europe use these digital-tasks as a way to help communities of people to overpass the digital gap, acquire new skills, and then realise their life project.
Outsourcing has become a common practice in the digital annotation industry, where businesses seek external assistance for completing annotation tasks efficiently. However, choosing the right outsourcing method is crucial to ensure project success. In this article, we will explore three popular outsourcing methods: Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Crowdsourcing, and Managed Workforce solutions.
BPO is a type of outsourcing where businesses outsource their non-core functions to a third-party provider. These functions can include payroll processing, human resources, customer service, accounting, and more. BPO providers typically offer end-to-end solutions and take full responsibility for the outsourced processes.
BPO works by transferring the designated tasks to the BPO provider, who possesses the necessary expertise and resources. For digital annotation projects, BPO can handle tasks such as image labeling, data tagging, and content moderation.
When selecting a BPO provider for digital annotation, it is essential to consider their expertise, track record, and adherence to data privacy regulations.
Crowdsourcing involves leveraging a crowd, which can consist of employees, customers, or freelancers, to complete tasks or solve problems. It is widely used for tasks that require human intelligence, such as data entry, content moderation, and market research.
Crowdsourcing is a method where businesses outsource tasks to a crowd of individuals. The process involves identifying a task, providing clear instructions, selecting a platform, engaging the crowd, reviewing and validating the work, compensating the contributors, and evaluating the completed tasks.
In the context of digital annotation, crowdsourcing enables businesses to tap into a diverse pool of annotators to handle tasks like image categorization, sentiment analysis, and text classification and data validation.
When selecting a crowdsourcing platform for digital annotation, consider factors such as the platform's reputation, quality control measures, and ability to handle the specific annotation requirements.
Managed Workforce solutions offer a unique outsourcing approach where companies entrust their digital projects to providers who recruit a workforce on demand, train, manage, and support the workforce throughout the project. These providers accompany the client in successfully completing the project while ensuring high-quality performance.
Managed Workforce solutions differ from BPO and crowdsourcing as they provide a dedicated and managed team specifically tailored to the client's needs.
In the realm of digital annotation, managed cloud workers can handle tasks like video annotation, audio transcription, and data validation.
When choosing a managed cloud worker provider for digital annotation, consider their recruitment and training processes, project management capabilities, and their ability to provide ongoing support and quality assurance.
When selecting the appropriate outsourcing method for a digital annotation project, it is important to consider several factors:
By carefully evaluating these factors and aligning them with your project objectives, you can make an informed decision on the most suitable outsourcing method for your digital annotation needs.
In conclusion, choosing the right outsourcing method for digital annotation projects is crucial for achieving success. Understanding the differences between BPO, crowdsourcing, and managed workforce solutions enables businesses to make informed decisions based on their specific requirements.
Whether you opt for BPO, crowdsourcing, or managed cloud workers, each method has its pros and cons. Consider factors such as cost, quality, expertise, scalability, and flexibility when making your decision.
By selecting the most appropriate outsourcing method, you can ensure efficient and accurate digital annotation, leading to improved project outcomes. Explore different outsourcing options and choose the one that best fits your needs, unlocking the benefits of outsourcing in the digital annotation landscape.
We hope this article has provided valuable insights into understanding the differences between BPO, crowdsourcing, and managed workforce solutions for digital annotation projects.
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