GOOD SEARCH: Searching for a cause

A new philanthropic search engine gives users a chance to donate to their favorite charity without spending any of their own time or money.\nGoodSearch, at www.GoodSearch.com, gives Internet surfers an alternative to the usual search engine business model.\n"We know there are a lot of people who want to do good but don't have the time or don't have the money to help out," co-founder Ken Ramberg said. \nLos Angeles Internet entrepreneurs Ramberg and his sister JJ Ramberg developed GoodSearch when they realized the potential for charitable results from Internet search engines, he said. \nGoodSearch functions just like any other typical search engine. It is powered by Yahoo to ensure the quality of its search results. Users select the charity they wish to support before they submit a search query by either entering its full name or entering a keyword and selecting it from a list. \nGoodSearch earns its revenue from the companies who advertise on the Web site and donates 50 percent of its revenue to the charities specified by its users. This equals a donation of about one cent per search, Ramberg said. An organization makes the most money if it spreads the word about GoodSearch to its supporters. The more people who use GoodSearch for their search queries, the more money that will be donated, Ramberg said. \nSince its public launch in Nov. 2005, the response has been tremendous, Ramberg said. More than 100 new nonprofits register on the Web site every day. Ramberg said there are currently more than 20,000 charities actively using GoodSearch to raise money. \n"The whole idea is to make it as easy as possible," Ramberg said. "We take something people do every day -- searching the Internet -- and turn it into doing good." \nInternet search engine advertising revenue will exceed $6 billion in 2006, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. \nThere's a fine line between charity and business, senior marketing major Reed Schafer said, and although 50 percent of the GoodSearch profit goes to charity, the other 50 percent does not. \n"There might be some opposition to those who make money wearing the charity hat," Schafer said. \nFreshman Dianna Dorman said she thinks the idea is "pretty fantastic" and could be helpful to any charity. Dorman said she would make the switch from using a typical search engine to GoodSearch if the Web site could actually benefit an organization. \n"I'd definitely give it a shot," she said. \nDance marathons from more than 50 schools are registered on GoodSearch, Ramberg said, including the IU Dance Marathon. \nIUDM Fundraising Director Adam Hirschkatz said that when the organization visited the Web site to register, it found that someone had already signed up IUDM. IUDM advertised its participation in GoodSearch by sending an announcement to its e-mail list. Hirschkatz said he told his family and friends to use the search engine to benefit IUDM. \nSince Jan., $216.55 has been raised for IUDM.\n"It's easy to use," he said. "If everybody on campus used it, we'd make a lot more"