Originally published January 22 2006
Search sites use giveaways to lure users
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Microsoft's MSN search engine may give away cash or software to gain users. Many other sites like Blingo and GoodSearch use the tactic of giving prizes or donations. Analysts are at odds as to how effective the strategy is.
Like many other Web sites, a pair of online newcomers, Blingo and GoodSearch, license search technology from Google and Yahoo and earn a commission from the major search companies for any ads visitors click on when they are on Blingo.com or GoodSearch.com.
Unlike other sites, though, both Blingo and GoodSearch give away portions of their revenue - as prizes or as donations to the users' favorite charities.
GoodSearch, which is based in Los Angeles and uses Yahoo's search technology, started down this road last month.
Each time someone searches, GoodSearch gives half of the advertising revenue that it earns from the search to the person's charity or school of choice.
To verify the company's claims about its donations, Ken Ramberg, GoodSearch's chief executive, said the company would submit its books to an auditor and post the results on the site.
Mr. Ramberg, who started a job search company for college students in the late 1980's and sold it to Monster.com in 2000, also declined to say how many people had used the site since its introduction last month.
But he said that the site's traffic was growing "faster than we expected," and that he expected to be able to earn a profit, given the comparatively low overhead costs of running an Internet business.
"There might be a short-term revenue hit, but this can be a very powerful loyalty tool, which is especially important now because we're in a market share game," Mr. LeFurgy said.
According to Frank Anderson, Blingo's chief executive, the company toyed with the idea of paying its most loyal or valuable users, but he said users would have had to register with the site, thereby complicating the process.
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