Filed under: Imagination
Regarding my previous post about goodsearch.com, I wrote them an email about how installing and using the goodsearch searchbar didn’t seem to update a charity’s tally. Within three hours one of the cofounders called me back(!!!) and told me that they don’t have that functionality built in yet.
So basically, when you are at goodsearch.com you can help the NGO of your choice, but not by using the search bar. He also told me that they would have a new version coming out pretty soon that allows IE users to have their searchbar tally count toward their favorite nonprofit, but the firefox version is months away.
I hope they build the functionality in soon. I use my searchbar all the time, and would love to rack up some pennies for my favorite NGO-du-jour. In my opinion Google is a better search engine than Yahoo!, so for me to use an inferior search engine I at least want to have the proceeds go to my favorite nonprofit.
They also said that currently charities get 50% of revenues, which they hope to increase in the future.
I played around and entered some nonprofits into the “I’m supporting” bar and clicked to see how much they’ve raised. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer led the pack with $2.29 when I checked.
Goodsearch seems like a really imaginative idea. They make money, nonprofits make money, individuals don’t have to sacrifice anything; everyone wins. They’ll need lots of users to really make a difference, so they will be interesting to watch develop. I’ll definitely keep an eye on them; we need more businesses like Goodsearch.
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Non-Governmental Imagination 
Hey Seth, I’ve been thinking about similar issues. I really want to have a GoodSearch gadget that I can add to my start page (and ask my colleagues to do the same) so I benefir my own organization when I search. But they don’t seem to offer any kind of API.
I’m even willing to make a generic Goodsearch widget for all Google users instead of limiting it to my org. Do you have any suggestions?
Comment by Ruby Sinreich August 24, 2007 @ 12:44 pm