So you create a series of vast online scavenger hunt contests with thousands of questions - the winner will receive (cue Dr. Evil voice) One Million Dollars.
The scheme is - included among the actual factoids are numerous engineered nuggets of... er... newly created truth.
That's right, you've created a series of answers that can be found only on the sites you've created - which means millions of hits by people trying to compile all the answers and win the prize.
You've set up each of these dozens of web pages (using free/near free hosting sites) with multiple 'pay per impression' ads, and then advertise the contest widely (the biggest expense of the plan).
You could also sell web traffic to corporate sponsors - by creating question/answer pairs that would require contestants to patronize certain corporate websites to uncover the answers.
Then you allow people to hit the main contest site, (hey, let's charge em $4.99 for the privilege of competing) hit the sponsors, and the engineered factoid sites. A lot of applicants won't finish the contest because it's so long and involved, so you're getting their $5 free and clear.
And the winner? Well, it clearly states in the Terms and Conditions that the million dollars is paid out over 30 years...
The scheme is - included among the actual factoids are numerous engineered nuggets of... er... newly created truth.
That's right, you've created a series of answers that can be found only on the sites you've created - which means millions of hits by people trying to compile all the answers and win the prize.
You've set up each of these dozens of web pages (using free/near free hosting sites) with multiple 'pay per impression' ads, and then advertise the contest widely (the biggest expense of the plan).
You could also sell web traffic to corporate sponsors - by creating question/answer pairs that would require contestants to patronize certain corporate websites to uncover the answers.
Then you allow people to hit the main contest site, (hey, let's charge em $4.99 for the privilege of competing) hit the sponsors, and the engineered factoid sites. A lot of applicants won't finish the contest because it's so long and involved, so you're getting their $5 free and clear.
And the winner? Well, it clearly states in the Terms and Conditions that the million dollars is paid out over 30 years...
You know, that's a pretty good idea. With an alternate reality game like this (since ARGs are becoming all the rage) and a big prize, you could even get coverage on various news programs before it began or as it is going on. You could go on the Early Show, chat with Hannah Storm and all of a sudden the number of people joining goes through the roof.
ReplyDeleteHow long would it be before someone mirrored your sites, taking the ad income for themselves? They get a share of your profits without having to fork out the $1 million.
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