I wondered whether viral stories get paid at a higher rate per minute — a bonus, as you say. It looks that way. After publishing this, I had a look at another one, which earned $85 for 24 hours of reading time. That also earned a better rate per minute than this month’s top performer. But perhaps 16 hours reading and 24 hours reading are not similar enough?The 24 hour one was published last April. I’m not sure if I have another 16 hour read to compare this month’s top story to.