I’ve never understood the point of “support ribbons,” like the yellow “support the troop” ribbons or pink “breast cancer awareness” ribbons. Lack of awareness doesn’t seem like a problem surrounding breast cancer (as opposed to other things that might benefit from awareness ribbons, like domestic violence). So I was skeptical when I saw the Pink Ribbon application on Facebook.
But actually, this breast cancer awareness application has a practical side. For every 150 users who add the Pink Ribbon toolbar this month (Breast Cancer Awareness Month), $150 will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It’s a little tough to tell from the application’s phrasing, but I think this will go on every month. According to the website,”If everyone in the group uses the Pink Ribbon Toolbar, we will generate $162,900.00 per month for the Komen Foundation!!! If everyone in the group uses the Pink Ribbon Toolbar this whole year, we will generate $1,954,800.00 dollars in donations.”
Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the self-described “largest and most progressive grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists” in the world. The Komen group funds treatment programs and races for the cure, and their website provides information on detecting and treating breast cancer. The group also partners with Garth Brooks; say what you like about his music, at least he’s using his celebrity for a good cause.
To help contribute, you have to download the Pink Ribbon Toolbar, which puts an extra toolbar on your browser. Some people have apparently had problems where the toolbar shows up all black or doesn’t appear, but mine worked fine on the latest version of Firefox, which you should really be using whether you download the toolbar or not.*
The toolbar is sort of annoying, just because I am anti-clutter, but I like the idea of donating money even though I have none myself. This is a useful application for college kids, starving artists and freelance writers who have seen women they love go through breast cancer but lack the spending power to do anything about it.
*This is my opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the site administrator. But it is totally correct.
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8 comments ↓
Ya - they give $1 for everyone who installs the toolbar, but get they $3.
I haven’t confirmed that this is the case with this particular app. But it is standard to be paid $2-3 per install of a toolbar. IAC (owners of Ask.com, Ticketmaster, Entertainment Book etc etc) pay upwards of $3 per install. Many of these toolbars offer a white label services so you can brand the toolbar as your own.
Most CPA Networks like MillnicMedia.com or neverblueads.com have plenty of options to chose from.
So as it is great to see some money going to a good cause, I wouldn’t be electing anyone for philanthropist of the year awards.
Yeah these guys are wonderful for raising money and keeping 2/3rds for their own pockets.
To date that toolbar raised about $114,000 for breast cancer research, yet these guys are keeping at minimum double that amount. Here’s the numbers:
$114,000 pledged means 114,000 users downloaded the toolbar and installed it. At MINIMUM these guys are getting $3 per install, so they actually made $343,000, keeping $228,000 for themselves. That is not even touching the fact that they can now line up advertisers to sell pop up ads, interstitial ads and other types of ads to and make even more. Contextual ad networks like Zango do this type of toolbar advertising everyday and make MILLIONS. It’s just Zango gets people to install toolbars in exchange for dumb little java games or screensavers, whereas these guys are preying upon the breast cancer area. If they really cared, they’d donate ALL the money to research, but that’s not what this program is about.
This is shady, they’re cashing in on cancer. Sleep tight fellas.
Yeah, I got all Pollyanna-excited about this app, but I think you’re right that this is not an altruistic thing. I might do a second post about it, so keep an eye on the site.
I know the kids from MIT and Harvard who made the Pink Ribbon application and toolbar. It’s not spyware at all–it doesn’t have any pop-ups or ads (use it and you can see). They have a deal with Yahoo! and every time somebody searches via the toolbar they raise a few cents for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. They donate most of the revenue and keep less than 50% to cover their own overhead costs. They have created a free way to raise funds while you browse the Internet–no money out of your pocket–and I think that’s pretty cool. At least two of them that I know personally have been affected by breast cancer in their families and that was part of their motivation to start this. I asked one of them to email you (Kris) to explain more about the app and toolbar and answer questions.
Fantastic. There seems to be so much confusion around this that I was going to contact the developers for an interview anyway. Thanks, Chandan!
Actually, it is spyware. Look at what these ‘generous souls’ are doing to your pc:
http://www.prevx.com/filenames/X740520089840526508-0/PINK+RIBBON+TOOLBAR+SETUP.EXE.html
Hi James,
I am one of the developers of the toolbar. Unfortunately PrevX has mistaken our toolbar for another vendor’s toolbar. It’s simply a case of mistaken identity. I’ve had discussions with the R&D team at PrevX and as of last Friday we are in the clear. PrevX should update/take down that inaccurate reference soon. We use the toolbar ourselves and we send it to all of our family members and friends. Understand that the toolbar (1) raises money for breast cancer, (2) uninstalls easily and leaves no trace, and (3) is not malicious in any way.
-Matt
[…] the minor hubbub over a recent post about the Pink Ribbon Toolbar, I spoke to one of the developers, Matt Adkisson, […]
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