Proof-of-Authority (POA) is a consensus mechanism similar to Proof-of-Stake. But instead of staking just money, the participants stake their reputation for network quality. Certain publicized or advertised participants are responsible for maintaining validator nodes – if there is any ‘bad’ contribution or problems, then the problem can be isolated to the known participation.
With Proof-of-Stake (POS), the person with the most money can take over or control the network – this can be done without anyone else knowing about it. POA offers specific credentials and benefits because reputation and source authentication is involved.
