Blingo: Get Free Stuff For Using Google
We use Google countless times a day. Now we can win free prizes while doing our daily searches by using Blingo, a Google-powered search engine.
I've personally switched to Blingo and this is why:
- Blingo is powered by Google, which means you get the same search results on Blingo and Google.
- No registration or software download required. To win, all you have to do is use Blingo's search engine. You don't have to give them any contact information unless you win something. If your search is a winner, you will see a "you won!" page instead of your search results.
- Blingo gives away as many as 100 prizes a day. Some of their prizes include:
- New Ford Escape or $20,000 cash
- Home theater package
- $2,500 cash
- $1,000 cash
- Digital cameras
- $5 - $25 Amazon.com gift certificate (I'm guessing this is what I'll be winning)
- Fandango movie ticket
- People actually win stuff. Over 20,000 people have won stuff on Blingo. For example, check out this story about Blingo winners from CBS2 Chicago and another Blingo story from KUTV Salt Lake City.
- Blingo is owned by the Publisher's Clearing House. Actually, I don't know if this is good or bad. These guys have been around since 1953, but I hope they don't pay out prizes with giant cardboard checks.
- You can download various toolbars and quick search boxes for Internet Explorer and Firefox.
- The interface is clean and fast. After a few hours of use I completely forgot that I'm not using Google.
- While no registration is necessary, Blingo does have "friends" program that encourages registration. If you become a registered user and you invite others to join, when your invitees win a prize, you win the same prize as well. Make sure you use a throwaway email address for this. Let's not forget that Publisher's Clearing House is in the business of selling magazines, and I don't trust them completely to keep things spam free.
Downsides For Using Blingo:
- You don't have access to Google's advanced search functions page.
- There is no way to change the filter level for image searches.
To test this out for yourself, check out Blingo now or the search widget below:
Photo by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
_0.png)
I've been using Blingo for a year. So far I've won a $20 Visa gift card and two AMC movie tickets.
I'm a blingo user too. I've won two movie tickets and a $25 visa gift card. The friends program is great too - that's how I won my first card. If anyone wants to be my friend, go here: http://www.blingo.com/friends?ref=wvYHTaa-BOCul4bNGt4nJbeGMSI
This works in the UK?
oh damn, USA only.
Sorry, but you are right. For some reason it only applies to Americans.
Which is kind of surprising. Generally I would assume British regulations for contests should be much more relaxed as compared to American laws. I wouldn't expect less from the country that brought us Betfair and William Hill. =)
There IS a UK alternative to Blingo. It's called Winzy, and it's available in US, UK and Canada. I've only been using it for a short while, but have won some points and have heard of many people winning real prizes. If you're already using Blingo, consider it even more extra chances at winning something!
As I am referring people here, this is my referral link: http://www.winzy.com/jakesmith
For convenience to those who really don't want to use my own link, here's the main page: http://www.winzy.com
Tips:
- Using my referral link will automatically put you in the fan club for a month;
- Choose to upgrade (link should be at the top-right) which will give you more chances at winning with just about zero hassle, and it's free;
- You can grab an auto-refresh extension for FireFox and probably something similar on other browsers. It's helpful for automating your daily searches and getting the most out of your Winzy account.
So whether or not you use my link, good luck and happy winning :).
I signed up for blingo and within a day won a small gift certificate. It's been a few months and have won nothing since, but here's the thing - Blingo might not be sending you spam, but the people they work with and the sponsor sure do. I deliberately entered my name with a strange misspelling when I responded to offers associated with Blingo sponsors and I now get about 200-300 spam emails PER DAY to this misspelled name that I have used no where else. AND BLINGO IS NO LONGER POWERED BY GOOGLE. It is now powered by Yahoo and my guess is that is because of two thing: 1. When it was powered by Google the searh results in fact were NOT the same on Blingo as Google. Google most likely did not like the filtering Blingo was doing to steer visitors towards Blingo sponsors. And 2. Google probably didn't want to be associated with the spam that resulted from dealing with these companies you are steered towards. Bottom line: Bling is not worth the hassle, not worth the high chance of spam, and certainly is not a good search engine.
Sorry about the typos in my comments, the result of disability that affect hands and key strokes. This should not detract from the facts as they are. Blingo is not worth the hassle and I want to save others from the spam you get from Blingo sponsors more than anything else. Thanks.