Can Search Engines Save the Planet?

jplatt — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0400

Last month, I wrote about GoodSearch, a search engine that donates 50% of its ad revenue to charitable causes. Each GoodSearch user picks the cause or charity that matters to them (from a list of 59,000) and every search they make then generates a penny or so for the charity.

Now comes word of a similar service: EcoSearch.org. Like GoodSearch, EcoSearch donates money to charities for every search you make. Unlike GoodSearch, it has a more focused donation plan (hence the name), one geared specifically to green causes.

EcoSearch Executive Director David Krasnow says that EcoSearch donates all profits from its ad revenues to charity. So far they have made donations to the NRDC, the Sierra Club, the Rainforest Alliance, and others. Not a bad start.

EcoSearch search results come from Google, which also provides the ads that appear on every search-result page. The company says each search generates around 2.1 cents for charity, and they hope to draw a million searches a day by the end of this year.

Search is the killer ap of the Internet, so it's nice to see some growth coming from it as well.

Send an Instant Message, Fight Global Warming

jplatt — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

How many instant messages do you send every day? What if each time you sent an IM, you ended up contributing money to fight global warming or protect the environment?

Microsoft's i'm Initiative does just that. The program's name is short for "I'm making a difference," and it does just that. By using Windows Live Messenger as your IM client, and by adding a special code to your screen name, you end up contributing to one of ten charities every time you start an IM conversation.

The money comes from advertising revenue (the ads appear on Live Messenger, just like with any other IM client), and Microsoft has promised that each of its ten "partner" charities will receive at least $100,000. (The program has already raised more than $1,400,000 -- so they've obviously already past that point!)

You can choose from three different conservation organizations -- StopGlobalWarming.org, the Sierra Club, or the Humane Society of the United State -- as well as other worthy causes like the Susan G. Komen Foundation or the American Red Cross.

I like this system because it takes something people are already doing and turns it into an instant act of activism. So if you're already IMing, why not use it to do some good?

Want to learn more about global warming?

Top 10 Lesser-Known Myths About Global Warming

New Report: Doubts Grow About Global Warming

Top 10 Ways to Prevent Global Warming

Global Warming Cartoons

Jared Leto Pushes Back on Global Warming

Clean, Renewable Energy: The Answer to Global Warming

What You Eat Can Affect Global Warming, New Study Shows

green fund raising

Can Search Engines Save the Planet?

Send an Instant Message, Fight Global Warming