Predicto sees future in celeb polls
Online service sends text-message surveys
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Those are just some of the nuggets gleaned from Predicto.com, a far-from-scientific polling service wrapped within a social network and point-earning system that entices users mostly with gossipy hot topics, often centered around celebs.
After filling in a profile, users reply thoughout the day to text-message surveys the company sends to their cell phones.
Creator Eyal Yechezkell says the site, launched in August 2007, now boasts more than 600,000 premium users who pay $10 a month to answer polls (there is also a free, basic level).
"Though politics are now at the forefront, celebrities are always popular," Yechezkell says. "Will they stay in rehab or not? Will they ever have a No. 1 single? That kind of thing."
Young people make up the majority of texters, which, Yechezkell admits, skews the data.
The more polls users get "right," the more points they earn; Those points are then cashed in for prizes. 800 points earns you a Magic Eight Ball -- which may have a higher degree of national accuracy than Predicto.
But true polling accuracy doesn't seem to be a worry for TMZ and Celebrity Mound, both of which have cited Predicto's data in stories.
