• by Tanya Gazdik , March 5, 2009

Publishers Clearing House Online Network has relaunched its PCHScratchCards site with the assistance of marketing agency Intuwin.

The site, which is located at www.PCHScratchCards.com, offers visitors an interactive and free way to instantly win cash and prizes. It also offers users an opportunity to share scratch cards with their friends for additional opportunities to win. In less than a month's time, the new PCHScratchCards has accrued 54,000 registrants and surpassed 2.3 million plays.

Most of the ads are served from ad networks. One of the goals of the relaunched version of the site is to attract advertisers that want to benefit from the viral nature of the site. The revamped site provides marketers with a way to create branded scratch cards, said Alex Betancur, vice president and general manager, PCH Online. The previous version offered strictly banner ads, but not ads in between each game play.

Players use their mouse to scratch off the sealed surface of the card to see if they've instantly won. Each player receives an initial three plays followed by seven additional plays upon registering or logging in, as well as the opportunity to unlock one additional scratch card when they invite a friend to join. Users who send scratch cards to their friends are automatically entered into a Publishers Clearing House SuperPrize giveaway for a chance to win $10,000,000, and will also receive a bonus card for a chance to instantly win up to $500.

New York-based Intuwin specializes in customer acquisition and social media. Its mobile division, IntuApps, develops iPhone applications for brands and retailers.