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Mar 30, 2006 11:28 am US/Central
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New Search Engine Offers Prizes To Users
by Terri Gruca
(WCCO)
Every day, it seems like a new search engine is trying to knock Google off its pedestal. One search site has decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Blingo uses the same search engine Google does, but it also offers random prizes to users.
"We make money by showing sponsored results next to the search results you get," said Frank Anderson, CEO of Blingo. "And when people click on the sponsored results, we make money."
That money goes back into the prizes Blingo offers to visitors.
"We hope to be profitable later this year, because we keep increasing our prizes as we grow our user base," Anderson said.
Search at the right time, and you could win everything from movie tickets to portable PlayStation systems.
"I told my friends about it. They didn't believe me," said Caroline Barth, who won a free iPod Shuffle. "Then when I won something, I told them, 'Really, you'll win!'"
Laura Morris said she won a prize "probably like the second or third day" she used Blingo.
"I'd won movie passes, and my co-worker won a year of Netflix," Morris said.
Blingo spokespeople say visitors can increase their chances of winning by signing up for Blingo Friends. Visitors can invite their friends to join. If one person wins a prize, all of his or her friends win the same prize.
As more people sign up, Blingo's founder promises more prizes.
"The odds of winning have remained stable as we've grown, and it will continue to do so," Anderson said.
"You have to search things every day anyway," Morris said. "So why not win something?"
Visitors can only win on their first 10 searches a day, so users shouldn't bother searching over and over.
The winners WCCO-TV talked to said they won prizes just by using Blingo in their everyday lives, not by trying hard.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)