I Need Your Help, And Seth Godins Would Be Nice Too!
Shortly after I started blogging I did what a lot of newbies did and installed Google Adsense and had those annoying rotating ads on my site in a lame attempt to make money.
After a year so I had accrued a massive $35.07 and was seriously thinking of postponing my retirement to Bali.
I started to realize that at the rate I was going, and as Google don’t pay out under $100, I’d need to stick at it for 3 years before Google paid me.
So I took them down and that was about 4 years ago.
I just went in to take a look out of curiosity and that money still sits in there. I’m guessing it will ad infinitum if I don’t reinstall the ads and try and get it up the elusive Benjamin.
I wonder how much money Google owe like that?
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it’s well into the millions, maybe even tens of millions.
Wouldn’t it be great if Google could have an option where people could waive the money they are owed from dormant accounts on the strict condition it’s donated to charity.
Maybe there would be an even better option with a drop down box listing several charities and you could choose the one of your choice. How cool would that be?
Of course I realize that there will be plenty in the T’s and C’s that will mean Google is well within its rights not to pay out, but simply keep the commission and get a win/win for themselves.
And that win/win is, they sold an advert and they didn’t have to pay the person that then referred the potential customer, client or whatever via that advert.
However, offering to give the money to good causes creates a win/win/win and that always trumps a mere win/win in my book.
Google wins with some fantastic publicity and a flood of goodwill and maybe even more people reactivating their accounts.
The charities obviously win, big time.
And the person with the account gets to feel great because all their hard work wasn’t wasted after all.
We Need Seth Godin!
But how do we help such a thing happen?
I guess we could e-mail Google and ask, but would that do it? I have less than 6,000 total readers and the vast majority won’t have Adsense accounts.
But what if somebody as highly respected, liked, and widely read as Seth Godin blogged about it, surely that could kicks start something amazing?
Come what may I think I’m going to contact Google.
I’m also going to consider reinstalling Adsense just long enough to get to $100 and then donate the check to charity.
What do you think? Am I missing something glaringly obvious that makes this totally untenable other than the desire for Google to grow its coffers?
I’d welcome your thoughts as to whether you think it’s an idea with legs?
I am sure Google has made millions from that and I’ve never thought about it until I read your post. There really should be an option especially for dormant accounts to have that money donated or able to be used in advertising for your site.
Love Seth Godin! I think we all need to pressure him to blog post about it–maybe call it Blue Chicken!
Yes! Tim the EWarrior. I love a goid campaign me. Although I have no financial capital in this at all I love the idea that the little folks can get together and have some bite.
Go for it!
Two of my heroes in one comment stream??? All I need now is the Dalai Lama to get the trifecta! ;-)
Of course, you don’t need my help. This isn’t about being loud, it’s about being right (and smart).
Write to their General Counsel (easy to find). Take about this http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/20/new-laws-mean-unused-gift-card-money-wont-be-a-gift-to-stores/ and the legal principles involved, then start a twitter campaign and boom…
Go for it, Tim!
Thanks a lot for the advice Seth, I’ll do just that!
Hi Tim,
I think you bring up a really interesting idea. I think there could definitely can be power in this.
I want to throw out some of the reasons this may be a struggle. I imagine that google has, like you put it, millions of dollars worth of Adsense revenue that is going unpaid. Probably a lot of this is in really small amounts. I think google resistance to donating the money to charity is that they simply don’t have the manpower too take all of the money in those accounts and transfer them to individual charities.
But even as I write this I recognize the solution to that argument. Google can set it up so that if an account is inactive for 1 year (and has made less than $100) then that money automatically goes to charity. They can simply have the user check the “donate to charity if this account is inactive for 1 year” box when they sign up for adsense. Yes, many people might not check it but I am sure many would.
Gosh, the more I think about your idea Tim, the more I like it. :)
Initially I was going to delete my comments that said the other side but I figured it would be good to leave it in there :)
I bet Google have some form of foundation and the money could go there.
Maybe the individual charities was a bit of a stretch though.
I’m going to look into this more tomorrow.
Great idea, Tim. What/who inspired you?
I honestly don’t know mate, it just popped into my head.
Hi Tim,
Great idea. How about pitching this idea to social media groups. I’m thinking BlogWorld, SxSW. You could get a couple hundred signatures and commitments in one spot.
I think your idea could go viral with a little planning.
Definitely contact Seth. But think of Darren Rouse, Copyblogger and James Chartrand. I think they would come on board in a cyber minute. If there is a groundswell, then Google would be too embarrassed to refuse.
Great and Generous idea.
Not sure they’d be too embarrassed, but it’s worth a shot.
Hi Tim, I was just thinking about the money sitting in my AdSense account. I recently moved my material to a whole new site with the intent of really being a coach rather than an online marketer. (That was my original intention 6 years ago, but I got side-tracked by the hype).
I would willingly give the funds that are sitting in my account to charity.
Are you listening Seth?
I’m sure he’s an avid reader of my blog ;-)
This sounds like an awesome idea. Too bad my adsense account wouldn’t help much since they do pay me from time to time.
It would be great if they donate even 1 cent for each click. It would be a lot of money, a lot of charity causes could be solved by this alone. :)
Yeh, but will it happen?
Probably not, but we can try!