Kachingle: Sprinkle change on the content you love

The message seems to be a very clear one on this site. Advertising revenue alone cannot continue to keep free sites free for much longer.

That may be a fact however this potential solution for filling the gap seems to require the lining up of rather a lot of ducks before producing micropayments for lucky site owners.

The concept itself is simple enough to understand. Regular users of sites that provide useful and regularly updated free information and news can sign up to become a kachingler and list their favourite sites. Likewise any site owner looking to take advantage of the service can sign up, describe exactly what their site does and provide the URL. Either way the result is that a kachingle medallion symbol will appear on the website from then on.

The revenue collection procedure is just as simple to understand. Kachingler’s deposit $5 a month into their account and when using a site displaying a medallion they can click on it and turn it a different color confirming it’s a site they wish to support. Their visit will be recorded and subsequent visits too without the need to click on the medallion again.

At the end of the month the $5 will be distributed amongst the kachingle sites visited with the split based on the number of visits.

It’s all very noble and I’m not against crowdfunding providing support for worthy sites that might otherwise struggle to survive. Where the potential problems might lie however is down to human nature. In the first place why would anyone volunteer to pay for something they’re getting free anyway? Secondly why would anyone search the web looking for a site that will facilitate them paying for something they’re already getting for free.

If I’m missing something then answers on a postcard please.

Conclusion
It’s a nice idea and I apologise if I’m tarring all surfers with the same brush. Having said that if a site is worth supporting financially then why not support it via a subscription and avoid the 15% fee deducted by kachingle.com from the payments to participating sites.