Yodogo uses Google to collect 1.000.000 $ for a good cause

[Philosopher]

I recently heard about the Yodogo project that has been launched a few days ago and thought some of you might be interested.

Yodogo is a website that can be used to search the internet using Google´s web search. The search results you receive are the same as on Google.com. However, if you decide to click on a sponsored link, not only Google, but also Yodogo will earn money. This money will then be donated to Unicef and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Yodogo´s goal is to get many more visitors and to donate a total of 1.000.000 US$ by the end of the year 2007.

Although Yodogo is still in test mode and still being developed, it already offers a plugin for Instant Search Boxes in Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.

I think the idea is just great and I´m going to support it. Hope some of you think the same way and give it a try on http://www.yodogo.com

The Philosopher

[sheepcentral]

An interesting idea, how does it get paid? There didn't seem to be any adverts.

[Philosopher]

Hi!

Apparently they are participating in Google´s AdSense program. So they get paid a few cents every time a visitor clicks on one of the sponsored links. That way you can search the internet the same way you used to do it andsupport a good cause at the same time. I think it´s great!

Any other opinions?

[niguy]

Cool idea, but I guess they've only made $8.00 so far...

[karstenwenzlaff]

Wow, such an interesting discussion. I posted the news about Yodogo this morning on my blog.
I received the notification from a friend of mine who created
this website. I will ask him whether he would like to spread
moreinformation about his idea and explain whether or not it is
affiliatedwith Google. But already thanks for supporting his idea.

[Philosopher]

It´s true that they havn´t made that much money so far. However, the project went live only a few days ago and I guess that they are going to do some advertising to become more poular.brbrI guess the only way to help them raise their earnings, is to use their site and to "spread the word"...brbrAny other suggestions how a project like that could become more popular?br

[mondine]

I don't anticipate this being around for too long.
Yes, they make a point in the FAQ of asking their users to not click on ads just to donate money to charity,
But this is the entire premise on which the service was created. It creates attention to ads, and incentive to generate artificial clicks.
Good cause or not, this will likely end up being found in violation of the AdSense TOS.

I'm also not impressed with the 'transparency' of the site ownership.
For a charity, there should be full, and easy-to-find disclosure.