• June 14, 2005

To promote its search toolbar and desktop search application, MSN Monday began a prize-drawing sweepstakes, offering consumers who download the program from CNET's Download.com the chance to win a digital camera or a grand prize of $100,000 in cash. MSN's toolbar competes with similar applications from Yahoo! and Google, although both search competitors produce separate applications, and Yahoo!'s desktop search offering is still in beta testing. For the sweepstakes, called "Find the Butterfly," users who download the application are directed to find a hidden butterfly logo on Download.com, and, when they click on it, will land on a contest registration site. Savvy browsers, however, can simply find the registration site by reading the contest rules, which provides a hyperlink, and register for the giveaway without downloading the application. -- Shankar Gupta