Well, if we were to approach this seriously, there a few more factors in play.
On the benefits side you need to estimate the expected length of time that this scheme will be operational. It’s not just GoodSearch being around, it also them continuing to offer the same rate (and the price of generic eyeballs has been going down since as far back as I can remember and shows no signs of stopping) while providing adequate service.
You also need to figure out the appropriate discount rate since $1 in 2040 is quite different from $1 in 2014.
On the costs side you need to estimate how many additional reconfigurations you might need (browsers change, config files become corrupted, etc. etc.). Also, every time you find find a particular Bing search inadequate and need to re-search using Google, that’s more time cost which could easily swamp the initial 10-minute estimate. If you believe the Bing search to be inferior to Google you should also include the opportunity costs of missing something important without realizing it.
More importantly, you need to realize what the main cost is—it’s not reconfiguration time, it’s you allowing yourself to be tracked by Bing, etc. (that’s what the advertisers are actually paying for). That cost is hard to estimate and probably depends on the individual, but it exists and ignoring it is unwise.
P.S. By the way, it turns out Goodsearch doesn’t donate 1c/search. It donates 50% of its revenue—that’s quite a different thing.
I agree with everything you’ve said, but I would point out that I already allow myself to be tracked by Google, so the true cost is only the difference between the ‘badness’ of Google and Microsoft.
Well, if we were to approach this seriously, there a few more factors in play.
On the benefits side you need to estimate the expected length of time that this scheme will be operational. It’s not just GoodSearch being around, it also them continuing to offer the same rate (and the price of generic eyeballs has been going down since as far back as I can remember and shows no signs of stopping) while providing adequate service.
You also need to figure out the appropriate discount rate since $1 in 2040 is quite different from $1 in 2014.
On the costs side you need to estimate how many additional reconfigurations you might need (browsers change, config files become corrupted, etc. etc.). Also, every time you find find a particular Bing search inadequate and need to re-search using Google, that’s more time cost which could easily swamp the initial 10-minute estimate. If you believe the Bing search to be inferior to Google you should also include the opportunity costs of missing something important without realizing it.
More importantly, you need to realize what the main cost is—it’s not reconfiguration time, it’s you allowing yourself to be tracked by Bing, etc. (that’s what the advertisers are actually paying for). That cost is hard to estimate and probably depends on the individual, but it exists and ignoring it is unwise.
P.S. By the way, it turns out Goodsearch doesn’t donate 1c/search. It donates 50% of its revenue—that’s quite a different thing.
I agree with everything you’ve said, but I would point out that I already allow myself to be tracked by Google, so the true cost is only the difference between the ‘badness’ of Google and Microsoft.