• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 14, 2009

Ask.com launches Monday the Search for the Cure campaign, donating a percentage of the proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which supports a grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists. The search engine has agreed to provide support to Susan G. Komen for the Cure through 2010.

Today, Ask.com will begin featuring themed skins on its home page designed not only to educate consumers about breast cancer, but inspire support for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. And while the program aims to educate consumers on the fight against breast cancer, it will also make it easy for people to donate money toward the cause.

It appears that people who search Ask.com for answers are passionate about specific topics. The light went on earlier this year after the search engine appealed to NASCAR fans through a TV campaign where contextually relevant questions crawled across the screen during the broadcast.

Ask.com attracted loyal and supportive followers from the campaign who had a greater passion for NASCAR, says Scott Garell, president of Ask Networks. "Internally, we saw significant double-digit increases in our search volume for the months we ran our NASCAR sponsorship, compared with the same period one year ago," he says.

Garell believes the same will happen with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure campaign. The skins on Ask.com will display a weekly series of questions that challenge consumers' knowledge of issues surrounding breast cancer and care. The search engine will donate up to 50 cents for each consumer who chooses a Komen skin as their personalized Ask.com home page and correctly answers the questions in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month through Oct. 31.

Consumers use Ask.com to find answers to the questions. Individual donation tallies are tracked through a display at the top of the home page. As people complete the questions, they earn more stars.

People can download the official Komen search toolbar to earn more stars or points. The campaign tagline, Turn Your Browser Pink, gives consumers easy access to news and headlines on breast cancer, as well as information on how to donate and get involved.

Ask has pledged to invest $1 million through December 2010, as part of its commitment to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which will raise awareness and encourage involvement in finding a cure for breast cancer.

Aside from the sprucing up the Ask.com search engine and special donations, the company will assign walkers in specific cities. The medallions worn by those who walk for a cure will have information on the Ask.com campaign and how people can use the search engine to earn money toward the research for a cure.

The campaign could run across other IAC properties, but nothing to announce today. The Ask Network -- an operating business of IAC -- ranked No. 7 in July, with 79.3 million unique visitors in the United States, according to comScore.

"If we are the seventh-largest network on the Web, we should be able to raise awareness for the cause," Garell says.