Posted on | by news-summaadvisory

Three Things You May Not Know About Sweepstakes

The enormous success of the Microsoft Rewards Ultimate $1MM Giveaway

In Loyalty Marketing, Sweepstakes have been a tried and true tactic to create seasons of excitement among a membership and to *maybe* burn off some of the financial liability associated with the accrual of value from issued but unredeemed loyalty currency.

Whatever your preconceived notions of a Sweepstakes may be, I found out recently that the concept is being redefined to embody digital promotions that can accomplish multiple goals for your loyalty program while also returning a profit.

That’s right, promotions are not cost centers; they can make you money.

Keep that in mind as I share this story of my recent interaction with Microsoft’s $1MM giveaway associated with Microsoft Rewards.

Navigating the email inbox is a chore for many people. The volume of email is weighty, and we find ourselves navigating a stream of digital messages like someone walking the beach with a metal detector. Most of our time is wasted hitting the delete button or unsubscribing from unwanted newsletters, but every so often, we find a valuable nugget that is worth our time to read.

That was my mindset recently when sitting down to play catch-up with my bloated inbox. Instead of choosing “select all” and hitting “delete,” I decided to walk through emails individually. I was feeling more generous with my time that day and wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out on a nugget.

When I saw an invitation from Microsoft to enter a $1MM Giveaway, I paused. My initial thoughts were skeptical. Is this something that could really benefit me? Do these sweepstakes ever really pay out? How do we know they are valid?

I investigated further and found that the Microsoft Rewards Ultimate $1MM Giveaway Sweeps was going to award one winner $1MM and 10 winners $10 K. Bing users were being asked to participate, so Microsoft was clearly hoping to create more awareness, engagement, and usage for their browser. The sweepstakes ran for 10 weeks ending 12/31/24, and to qualify, you must be a Microsoft Rewards member to enter. Membership is free, and it is easy to join.

When I read through the campaign rules, I learned there were 240 ways to win without making a purchase, including:

  • Download Bing on desktop
  • Download Bing for search on mobile, and complete one search
  • download Edge
  • use Bing

You can review the entire program rules here.

I did enter the Sweepstakes, and when I didn’t win, I dug around to find out just who benefited from the campaign. When I found this video of “Ron G” learning that he has won the $1MM prize, all of my skepticism melted away. And Ron G wasn’t the only winner. You can see an entire list of winners here.

The story becomes even more interesting. I noticed that when Microsoft reported its third quarter 2025 earnings, its search and advertising revenue was up 21%. The previous quarter showed a 21% increase as well, stringing together multiple quarters of improved advertising earnings. Could the sweepstakes be contributing to this surge in Bing usage and associated ad increases?

My research led me to discover the IC Group, a Canadian-based firm that provided the engine and components of the Microsoft Sweepstakes. Talking with Jill Goldworn at IC Group, I learned that the outcome of the $1MM Ultimate Giveaway Sweeps was such a success that Microsoft launched another sweeps, the Microsoft Rewards $2,000,000 USD Sweepstakes. That campaign engaged millions of users in 7 countries to use Bing for search on desktops and mobile.

My adventure with sweepstakes in the past few weeks has led me to three things that you may not know about sweepstakes and the impact they can have on your digital customer strategy.

#1 – Engagement and Activity

“Change your life” prizing attracts new users, revives dormant users, and drives positive behavior while creating new habits among millions of existing customers.

#2 – Positive Financial Impact

The massive response to enter the Sweepstakes resulted in a positive financial outcome for the company when weighed against program costs and the prizes awarded.

#3 Brand Power

The sweepstakes mechanism connected members to the brand and created excitement. Introducing a second contest is serving to cement the relationship and drive true brand loyalty.

Take a closer look at Sweepstakes to see how it can gracefully blend into your digital customer strategy. Digital promotion formats are evolving and can drive customer delight, data collection, and profit.