ads for the common good

I followed a link from Pandora.fm this morning to the i’m talkathon main page. I’d heard about this brewing for a while, but didn’t realize it had started:

i’m is an initiative from Microsoft. Every time you use Windows Live Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with an organization from a list of 10 important social causes.

My first thought was, just how many people are still using Windows Live Messenger or Hotmail? But I’d probably be surprised at the number, just like how many people are still using MySpace. I do like the disclaimer about their totally made up Parker character, “If you’re reading this, your BS detector is chirping like a smoke detector with a dicey 9-volt.”

And then there was this one on Facebook:

Like To Set Trends?

Check out gay gadgets where you can find out about all the latest phones, computers and more! Gadgets that every gay man must have!

I took a look at the site and uh… maybe it’s just me but as a self-professed queer gadget-luster, I’m seeing some gadgets but not feelin’ the gay. I think I’ll stick to Gizmodo and Engadget, even when their stories overlap, they’re at least informative. It looks like the site’s only been around less than a month, so maybe they’ll expand to be more than just a place buying impressions/ads only to serve up more ads.