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Scour pays you to search, improve results

Your browser makes all its money off that little search box in the corner, but what about you? A new start up called Scour is trying to change that.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Josh Lowensohn

Scour is a search tool that blends results from Google, Yahoo, and MSN together in one stream. You can hot-swap between the three, or break out any single result into another search. If you come across a bad result, or one you think should go above the others, you can also vote it up (or down) or leave a comment--something similar to what Wikia did with its hackable search engine.

On top of the basic layer of search interaction there's also a paying element to the site. Every query you make has a certain point value, with interactions like commenting and voting giving you more points. Once you reach a certain point limit you can then convert points you have into a cash gift card. There's also a referral program where you get a small percentage of the points from the searches your friends do.

I've embedded a demo video below. You can also give it spin here.