Bill Gates Big Buck Contest - Finally True!

[Brett_Tabke]

Remember the long-running e-mail hoax from the early days of the Web, the one that had Bill Gates testing an "e-mail tracing program" and offering to pay recipients big bucks if they passed his test e-mail along to all their friends?

Well, the offer is true, sort of. Microsoft Corp. wants you to use its MSN search engine, and it's got $1 million worth of prizes up for grabs for those who nibble at the offer.

[msnbc.msn.com...]

[adamnichols45]

sounds like i should have ago at this.

[a1call]

I'm glad that MSN is listening:
[webmasterworld.com...]
message 3

[adamnichols45]

i cant get the page working - what a great start

[rogerd]

Encouraging sampling of new products is a time-tested technique. If they feel that the average consumer will find their results as good as Google or Yahoo, now's the time to start changing behavior.

Nice touch to include the prize link among the paid results at the top... a little behavioral conditioning to improve ad CTR. ;)

[Tigrou]

Almost as interesting is a quote within that post:

Ken Cassar, senior director of analytics for Nielsen-NetRatings, called MSN's move a "smart promotion," adding that he has tried each of the major search engines and isn't convinced that he could differentiate the results of one from another.

OK, it's not as interesting as a million bucks but it's a valuable insight from a reputable source.

[whoisgregg]

Hmm, the official contest page uses a pre-populated search field that only cycles through around 100 terms.

If I was one of the advertisers on those terms I would be quite unhappy. The users searching on those terms are no longer interested in the terms, but rather are just there to win a contest.

[rstein68]

It looks like it would be easy for spammers and scammers to spoof the "winner's notice" as an Overture ad and obtain all kinds of personal data. The whole site is kinda cheesy and reeks of desperation.

[lvkyle]

I won A Barnes and Noble gift certificate after reading this. Took me prob half an hour, and I was trying to win other stuff as well.

Odds are 1:125,000
[msnsearchandwin.com...]

I feel like a champ, and I need a few computer books anyway.

Now if I could of only hit that royal flush playing video poker in vegas a few hours ago. I came within 1 card like 10 times. I probably wouldn't of won this though. Funny it's like fate eh?

[edited by: engine at 8:51 am (utc) on Feb. 17, 2006]
[edit reason] TOS [/edit]

[stuartc1]

Only open to people living in the US :( just read that after search for about 1 hour... always pays to reas the terms and conditions.