Yandex.Toloka

Toloka is a crowdsourcing platform and microtasking project launched by Yandex in 2014 to quickly markup large amounts of data, which are then used for machine learning and improving search algorithms. The proposed tasks are usually very simple and do not require any special training from the performer. Most of the tasks are designed to improve algorithms that are used by modern technologies spanning self-driving vehicles, smart web searches, advanced voice assistants and e-commerce. For the correct completion of each task, the performer receives a small reward.

A toloka used to be a form of mutual assistance among villagers of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It was organized in villages to perform urgent work requiring a large number of workers, such as harvesting, logging, building houses, etc. Sometimes a toloka was used for community works (building churches, schools, roads, etc.). The idea of joint useful work for a common result is consistent with the principle of crowdsourcing.