Home
Apps
Apps News
App looks at crowdsourcing to expose counterfeit goods

App looks at crowdsourcing to expose counterfeit goods

By Agence France Press | Updated: 11 September 2012 18:14 IST

Click Here to Add Gadgets360 As A Trusted Source

Tech startup BrandBounty on Monday sought to enlist smartphone users around the world in a "crowd-sourced" battle against knock-off goods and pirated digital content.

The creators of BrandBounty, which launched earlier this year, were at a TechCrunch Disrupt gathering of technology startups in San Francisco to show off an application they designed to transform "consumers into brand vigilantes."

The application makes a game of sorts out of exposing counterfeit goods.

People can score points and win prizes by using smartphones to submit pictures, descriptions or other "tips" about apparent knock-offs or piracy.

Brands sponsor contests or reward programs and get any resulting real-time intelligence about possible abuses in the market.

"The age-old problem with brand enforcement is a lack of eyes in the ground," said Jonathan Gonen, co-founder of the company born out of a Los Angeles-based accelerator called StartupMinds.

"With BrandBounty, we now have a simple, fun, and effective solution that turns smart consumers into brand watchdogs."

Counterfeiting and piracy cost the US economy an estimated $1.2 to $1.7 trillion dollars last year, according to Gonen.

A version of BrandBounty was available at the App Store for Apple gadgets with applications tailored for Android smartphones to be available in the coming months.

Comments

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.