Winning The Web's contest bugs me

[thenetfool]

You all have probably heard of the huge $12,000+ contest going on at WinningTheWeb.com.

I originally thought it was a great idea, as the days go on... I am beginning to get more and more annoyed by the day.
They are completely flooding the market in my opinion.
I feel like everyone in the contest is getting a bit depressed that there are so many entries, it feels like there is no way you can win.

In my mind, this is a classic example of how NOT to run a contest. Their entire blog is now this contest, nothing blogging about it at all anymore.
I feel like they should be doing this on a contest blog if anything.
Having a contest like this totally drains everything from the normal contests you see everywhere else, and the constant posting on "new ways to enter" are getting on my nerves.

Anyone feel the same?
-J

[rhyswynne]

I'll be honest. I've only heard about it. It seems to be going on forever.

I won something on Shoemoney's Rss contest a while back. The guy didn't deliver and I couldn't do anything about it. Could be interesting if all $12,000 worth of prizes deliver. Because if a sizable proportion don't, the contest would've done more harm than good to winning the web

[thenetfool]

I didn't even think about that aspect of things. Do sponsors do that often? I feel like the honor code would be trashed if that is happening as frequently as you make it sound.

[The University Kid]

Lol. I had a contest where the company that sponsored a prize closed down - there's nothing you can do in such instances. Luckily the prize they sponsored wasn't worth much

As for Gyutae's contest, he can get back to producing good content when it's over. I believe he's doubled his feed count already, which is worth a month of not posting much useful content

[ekarey]

I don't think its that bad, it's just that the contest has turned into a legitimate contest like you'd expect offline. Lots of entries, very little chance of winning. Heck of a promotional tool though.

[rhyswynne]

Originally Posted by thenetfool

I didn't even think about that aspect of things. Do sponsors do that often? I feel like the honor code would be trashed if that is happening as frequently as you make it sound.

As Jason said, there's nothing you can do if the sponsor's company shuts down, and I'm not saying that everybody does it, just it'll be tricky to track if everybody pays up. Hell, Shoemoney didn't have a clue until I told him about what happened (and - to be perfectly fair to Shoemoney - he sorted me out with a nice alternative prize). With WTW having a lot of prizes, the donator won't be seen as responsible if a prize doesn't come up, WTW will.

However, looking at WTW, there's a lot of people giving prizes with good credentials, so hopefully there won't be that problem.

Originally Posted by The University Kid

As for Gyutae's contest, he can get back to producing good content when it's over. I believe he's doubled his feed count already, which is worth a month of not posting much useful content

It'll be interesting to see how many people stay after the competition though

[Bloggeries]

That's the thing lot's of people have high RSS feeds but no one reads them. Just email subscriptions to junk emails at free providers...

[sukosaki]

Originally Posted by Bloggeries

That's the thing lot's of people have high RSS feeds but no one reads them. Just email subscriptions to junk emails at free providers...

And that's the part that bothers me about RSS numbers. The email subscribers that sign up with junk emails just for a contest and never read the feed again.

My number changes from 38 to 34ish everyday. I am happy that there are even THAT many people remotely interested, but at least when I see the flucuation, I know it isn't all email subscribers.

[thenetfool]

Yeah that's just my problem. I would say the majority of the subscribers are only going to be interested until the contest ends... ionno.. definitely not going to discount his great traffic though as the University kid pointed out

[ffnstuff]

I will be unsubscribing via email once the contest is over, I always do. If I like the blog I will add it to my reader.

The contest is a bit excessive, but its huge. I put in a prize as well.

The value is worth participating, I wouldn't mind getting a big cash prize, even if there are 70 people+

As a sponsor there is many times when I put up a prize and the person doesn't even bother collecting. There is also times when I "win" and never get it. Mostly little stuff though.