Google is harnessing the collective wisdom of its users to find tips on how to save money. Yesterday, the Internet search giant set up a site dubbed “Tip Jar” (www.google.com/tipjar), which allows users to submit money-saving tips across a variety of categories, ranging from finance and travel to food and shopping. Users can vote on the tips they like; over time, the most popular and useful ones float to the top of the list.
Looking to cut your food bills? One user recommends drinking water instead of sodas, coffee and alcohol to save money and calories. One of the top tips in the finance categories: Pay your bills online to save on postage. If you’re looking for a specific topic, the search engine will scour all the categories and bring back any tips related to your topic.
Other online personal-finance Web sites, such as Wesabe and Geezeo, also leverage their social networks by allowing users to share tips and goals with other users. By applying a “wisdom of the crowds” theory, Google is essentially betting that the collective wisdom of its users will yield better results than could have been made by any single person.
-- from Star Bulletin, 3/15/09
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