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We have already seen an app that rewards students for ignoring their phone during lectures, but now BrowseU is a search engine that accepts the inevitable, and rewards students for browsing instead.

BrowseU works like any other search engine, enabling users to find information, websites, news and videos. But where Google and the like profit from their advertising revenue, BrowseU instead shares its earnings with its users, to help them pay off their student loans. To begin, users sign up as a member and are placed at the back of a queue. As the platform gains traction, ad revenue is generated. This money is given to the person at the front of the queue until their ‘funding bar’ is full, at which point the next person on the list begins to benefit.

Students can get anywhere between USD 500-2000 for signing up and unlock further funds through recommendations and social media activity. The platform rests on the premise that no search engine can succeed without its users. Having launched two months ago, the startup has already recruited its 1000th user. Could other new online platforms create benefits for customers in order to attract them?