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Google Paying for Firefox Installs

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the paid-to-play dept.

slashkitty writes "Google updated their AdSense service to pay publishers for referrals. What's interesting is that now they pay publishers $1 US for each FireFox download with the Google Toolbar installed. Is this the bump that Firefox needs to boost downloads? Will Google be able to pay the millions for all the downloads?"

4 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Huh? and yes. by Will_Malverson · · Score: 5, Informative

    It seems to me that when posting a story like this, at least one of the links should lead to something that actually discusses the subject of the article.

    Here is a link to the actual section of the Google AdSense FAQ that mentions the dollar per Firefox install:

    http://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.p y?answer=27406&ctx=en:search&query=firefox&topic=0 &type=f

    Also, Google currently has over 7.5 billion dollars in the bank, so yeah, they could pay one dollar for EVERY PERSON ON EARTH to install Firefox and not go broke.

  2. There's always a catch... by David+E.+Smith · · Score: 4, Informative
    When a user you've referred to Firefox plus Google Toolbar runs Firefox for the first time, you'll receive up to $1 in your account, depending on the user's location.

    Emphasis mine.

    This implies that if a user's computer has ever had Firefox installed before, it's ineligible for a referral. Also note "up to" a buck, which implies many users (I'd guess users outside of the United States, but it's not stated anywhere I can readily find) will yield less.

    Edit: Found some fine print, where it explicity states the PC must never have had Firefox installed before, regardless of the presence or absence of the Google Toolbar. I imagine a LOT of folks have downloaded Firefox, played with it, then uninstalled it, which means AdSense users don't get kickbacks.

    I've put up a link on my site regardless, but I'm not expecting BIG CASH PRIZES.

  3. Not available to all webmasters by MTO_B. · · Score: 3, Informative

    My Google AdSense referral page does not include any reference to the Firefox referral program.
    It seems they are limiting it to sites in USA or in English (just guessing).

  4. Re:Spyware by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 5, Informative

    What's great about the Google toolbar in Firefox is just how configurable it is. I've only kept a couple of buttons from it on the left side of my menubar. Really, if this were bundled with Firefox, it would seem harmless enough to not bother me. What I like about Google is that they didn't force Firefox users to display the toolbar in some sort of a monolithic way. It's just as configurable as all the UI elements that come standard with Firefox.