ReadWriteWeb

Social networking has been notoriously hard to monetize. Despite loads and loads of inventory, hitting on an ad model that works has proved thus far elusive. Traditional banners haven't worked, contextual ads have been lackluster, selling app installs isn't sustainable, and getting people to sell to their friends hasn't worked. There's just no native ad format for social networks. A new startup that launches today called SocialCash thinks it has hit on the solution: incentivize ad participation with free stuff.

Note: See update at the bottom of this post.