Comments - Is FreeRice.com making $150k each day in profits?

#61 /* 8 months, 26 days ago */

i think you missed the point!
the whole idea is astounding! i play, enjoy myself, improve my english and at the same time
send someone food.
if i ever met a win win program this is one of the best.
as people pointed out your math is way wrong and if the guy makes a little money
so what.
at last some thing good on the net and you try to undermine it?

shame!!!!

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yakir Normal User

#62 /* 8 months, 24 days ago */

Man, putting aside the shotty math and pointless nitpicking, the value of this thread lies in the peculiarity that people have such deep-seeded qualms if someone makes a profit off of a charity. How interesting, you know? With all the thousands of websites that do nothing but make money for those who run them, people still raise a fuss if this guy makes a penny on site that generates its hits from a charity. I am just trying to think about why that is... maybe they feel cheated they their grand, noble gesture of philanthropy (playing an online vocab game) isn't PURELY philanthropic and that someone somewhere is making a profit as well, when they aren't even giving any money! So what if he does get rich? Taking it further, what if it is proven he is? Is he exploiting the cause of hungry? Is the act of giving food to the hungry really negated in this case? It makes me question the larger concepts people have about charities. Are people so selfish as to choose not to be exploited (if that is what is happening) over helping in the fight of world hunger? There is something in me that doesn't like the idea of it, sure, but in the end I have to force myself to think that when he feeds an entire village, one hundred villages, etc., who is winning and who is losing? surely not the people eating who couldn't have otherwise.

We just ran an issue of the day on the changing face of charitable organizations and the free market on our site, TheIssue.com, and I am hoping to get some feedback from people and what they think about these ideas. If you are interested the link to that particular issue is http://theissue.com/issue/7795.html

Interesting thread though, really shows a lot about our visceral reactions about giving...
Cheers,
Nick | Nick (at) theissue (dot) com

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Niko Normal User

#63 — Author comment /* 8 months, 24 days ago */

Nick, I split that side of the argument into it's own thread. It actually cuts Breen and whatever takings he might be earning out of the whole thing and looks at the food donated and the users.

It actually works out (using the new figures - 20grains/answer) that it would take you 6 hours to donate just one dollar. If you instead opted to do some actual paying work in that time (at $20 an hour, for example) it would take you just 3 minutes to give that same amount.

That's about the same as donating 0.15% of your weekly pay-check. Absolute pittance. I'm sure the WPF would prefer more generous donations though.

And then there's the possibility that people replace genuine charity donations with spending time on FreeRice.

All in all, I think it's clear where I stand on this now. Play it as a vocab game but don't look at it as if it's real charity, especially if you could be doing something better with your time which you could offset against a proper donation.

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Oli Numero Uno

#64 /* 7 months, 12 days ago */

Who really cares if he is making money?....everyone wins in the end. Sure I could go to the market and buy rice to donate, but even after I find a charity that accepts food donations, I still have to pay for shipping, and it takes time out of my day. I don't care if he's pulling 90% of the money in as profits. In fact, I randomly click ads hoping he does get something.

The bottom line is the guy has a brilliant idea that helps people learn, and helps other people eat. That's a million dollar idea if ever there was one. I hope he makes that 10 times over.

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brad Anonymous User

#65 — Author comment /* 7 months, 11 days ago */

Brad, it's $8.95 to donate 25kilos of rice to the WPF - that's how their donations typically work. Donating that much through FreeRice takes about 54 hours (on the assumption that you win most of the time).

So there's my problem. 54 hours to donate less than $10 is a thorough waste of time if you're playing so that you feel you're contributing. Earning and donating money is 12,000% more efficient (based on $20/hour).

It's not a bad idea but it's not transparent charity (something you don't care about) and it's very misleading over how much rice people need to live (100 grains doesn't fill a bowl by a long shot) but if you're in it for the learning, fine.

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Oli Numero Uno

#66 /* 7 months, 7 days ago */

My good friend that runs The Daily Cow (http://dailycow.org) has another good article about this. You can find the article here: http://dailycow.org/node/165. We're confident that freerice is being incredibly dishonest about its approach, while covering up their profits with the mask of altruism. It's something straight out of an Ayn Rand novel.

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Sother Anonymous User

#67 /* 7 months, 2 days ago */

The fact that it use to be 10 grains of rice and is now 20, shows he was making a huge % of profit from this.

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Baghernia Anonymous User

#68 /* 7 months, 2 days ago */

have you contacted john breen to ask him directly what his motives/profits, etc. are?

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bcf Anonymous User

#69 /* 7 months, 1 day ago */

If this site feeds hungry people just because I do vocabulary that I enjoy. Go for it. Hooray! And keep up the good work. I don't get the opportunity to donate to a charity this easily, and I thank freerice.com for the opportunity. Bless you.

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Peggye Enlow Anonymous User

#70 /* 7 months, 19 days ago */

I have two things to comment:
1) I think your success rate of 90% correct is wrong. Because they keep it at a level that is hard for you. For every correct answer you go up one level and for every three incorrect ones you go down one. I'm not sure how to calculate it but its probably closer to 80% correct.
2)Probably many people don't mind even if he does make money because its not coming out of their pockets- just through their playing a game on the internet. And its fun!

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mee Anonymous User

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