Microsoft really wants users to embrace its Edge browser. Its latest effort involves unveiling a pleasingly rotund $2M prize pot to tempt users over. That figure includes a grand prize of $1M in cash, some alluring Mercedes-Benz automobiles, and “thousands of instant prizes.” Sadly for Microsoft/Edge, it has taken over a month for the media to become aware of this new barnstorming Rewards package with NeoWin flagging it as a surprise “new promotion in Edge” this Thursday.
Head to the rewards.bing.com link at the top of this article, and you will be asked to sign in to join the rewards program. There are T&Cs, privacy, and official rules smallprint links to digest. But basically, you will be agreeing to “receive emails about Microsoft Rewards, which include offers about Microsoft and partner products.” There is no monetary fee for entering the sweepstakes. But you can use Microsoft Rewards points balances to accrue more entries. The unfeasibly large maximum entry limit is 465 entries per person/account/email address/mobile phone number.
Sharing links to the prizes event page can also net you more entries and chances to get something from the prize pot. As this rewards program has been running for a month, we can see multiple folks across the world who have already won this and that. For example, someone in Spain won an Acer Copilot+ PC, an entrant from the U.S. snagged a $50 Xbox Gift Card, and someone from Mexico managed to lasso a ROG Xbox Ally handheld. Is the chance of this kind of prize worth the potential spammy email avalanche? That’s up to you.
The official rules say that the sweepstakes are open to U.S. residents, as well as those in Canada and a multitude of South American and European countries. We see New Zealand, Japan, and South Africa are listed, too. No, we don’t know what happened to Australia.
If you want to convert the $1,000,000 grand prize to your local currency – perhaps you are an optimist – Microsoft has already done the work for you. It is “approximately $1,380,000 CAD / £740,000 GBP / €860,000 EUR / Fr. 800,000 CHF / kr 10,100,000 NOK / $18,000,000 MXN / S/ 3,400,000 PEN / ₡498 000 000 CRC / Q7,000,000 GTQ / $1,730,000 NZD / ¥157,000,000 JPY / Kč 20,800,000 CZK / lei 4,350,000 RON / R 16,500,000 ZAR.” Some unfortunate countries will face Microsoft withholding 30% of the prize value in tax.
Three cars are up for grabs to appeal to the petrolheads among you. The rules suggest that winners will pop to their local Mercedes-Benz dealer, where a budget of $100,000 (or local equivalent) will be all yours to play with. You can’t buy a key fob and get the remainder in cash, though, so canny winners should max out their Merc specs to the last cent.
