Amazon Mechanical Turk
What is Amazon MTurk?
Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a crowdsourcing marketplace that enables businesses to coordinate the use of human intelligence to perform tasks that computers are currently unable to do well. Named after an 18th-century "chess-playing machine" that was actually operated by a human, MTurk connects "Requesters" who post tasks with "Workers" who complete them.
Tasks on MTurk (called HITs - Human Intelligence Tasks) include data validation, research surveys, content moderation, audio transcription, image categorization, and many other activities requiring human judgment. Individual tasks typically pay small amounts but can be completed quickly.
Types of HITs Available
Surveys: Academic and market research surveys are among the highest-paying HITs. Universities and research companies post studies paying $1-15+ for 10-60 minute surveys.
Data Entry & Categorization: Enter information from receipts, categorize products, or tag images. These tasks are repetitive but quick and available in high volume.
Transcription: Transcribe short audio clips. Higher paying but requires accuracy and decent typing speed.
Content Moderation: Review content for appropriateness. Can include adult content warnings.
Writing: Write product descriptions, reviews, or short articles. Higher skill requirement but better pay.
Earning Potential
Experienced MTurk workers who use scripts and know where to find good HITs report earning $10-20/hour. New workers starting out typically earn $3-8/hour while learning the platform. Monthly earnings of $100-500 are realistic for part-time workers; dedicated full-time workers can earn $1,000+.
Pros
- Massive variety of task types
- Work whenever you want, no schedule
- Direct deposit to Amazon Payments or bank
- Build qualifications for higher-paying HITs
- Active community with helpful scripts
- Backed by Amazon's infrastructure
Cons
- Learning curve to find profitable HITs
- Many low-paying tasks ($0.01-0.05)
- Approval process can take weeks
- US workers have more opportunities
- Requesters can reject work unfairly
- Good HITs get claimed quickly
Getting Started Tips
1. Build Your Approval Rating: Start with easy, quick HITs to build your approval rate above 99%. Many high-paying requesters require 95%+ approval.
2. Use Scripts: Install browser scripts like MTurk Suite or Panda Crazy to catch good HITs faster and filter out low-paying tasks.
3. Join Communities: Subreddits like r/mturk and forums share tips on good requesters and warn about problematic ones.
4. Get Qualifications: Complete qualification tests to unlock access to exclusive, higher-paying HITs.
Disclaimer
Dig it Up is not affiliated with Amazon or Mechanical Turk. Earnings vary significantly based on location, qualifications, and time invested. MTurk approval for new workers is not guaranteed and can take several weeks. Always review Amazon's current Worker agreement.
