# Amazon Smile gets a frown | Seth's Blog

<https://seths.blog/2023/01/amazon-smile-gets-a-frown/>

- Host: [seths.blog](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/seths.blog/)
- Saved: January 21, 2023 (2023-01-22T01:17:57Z)
- Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/a17e2214b18e/
- JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/a17e2214b18e.json

## What Jamie wrote

I've used Amazon Smile from time-to-time over the years.

> To date, Amazon Smile has sent charities more than $500,000,000. That’s not a ‘donation’ of course, it’s simply an allocation of marketing spend. And yet, half a billion dollars makes them a very significant donor in aggregate, one of the biggest corporate donors in the world.

I had no idea that it raised $500M for charities. I’m also surprised that Amazon decided to discontinue the program. They cited low usage. Why not solve that problem instead of just shutting it off? I would have loved for Amazon Smile to be backed into the normal Amazon experience. Certainly that would have driven engagement and resulted in a positive message instead.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT239: Weekly Thing #239 / Helmets, Bear, Smile](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/239/), Notable

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## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://seths.blog/2023/01/amazon-smile-gets-a-frown/