Club Bing (previously Live Search Club) was a group of onlineword games by Microsoft that lasted from April 2007 to May 2012. Players who completed or partially completed a game earned "tickets" (originally up to 1000 per day, then later reduced to 500[1]) that could be exchanged for Microsoft or other products. The site was credited with a significant increase in market share for the search engine Bing.[2]
Screenshot of Live Search Club prior to the rebrand to Bing.
Club Bing had also opened up to allow users to send a percentage of tickets earned in a game to a charity or school of their choice. Many local charities, schools, and organizations are represented to users.
On February 15, 2012, Microsoft announced that Club Bing would close on May 31, 2012. Actual gameplay ended on May 15, 2012; prize redemption ended on May 31.[3]
While playing the games, players may request "hints" which consist of searches on the Bing search engine. Every time a player submits an answer (correct or incorrect) a search query is generated. The site had succeeded in helping increase the market share of Live Search from 8.4% in May 2007 to 13.2% in June.[4]
Gamesedit
Blockdot original founders in their first office in 2002
Many of the games for Club Bing were built by Blockdot, a defunct branded entertainment and game studio based in Dallas, Texas, United States. Blockdot was founded in March 2001 by Michael Bielinski, Dan Ferguson, and Jason McMinn. In August 2005, it was purchased by Media General.[5] By 2016, the company was no longer in business.[citation needed]
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2011)
Banana Shuffle — A game in which players transform one word to another by changing one letter at a time. (2 Tickets per complete game, max 622 Tickets)
Chicktionary — Players are given seven letters from which to form words. A multiplayer option was recently added. (20 Tickets per complete single-player game, max about 34,700)
Clink — A phrase-matching game. (10 Tickets per complete game)
Coffee Break — Game sampler consisting of short versions of Chicktionary, Crosswire, and Clink. (20 Tickets per complete three-round game, max about 3,300 Tickets)
CrossWire — A game in which items on one side must be matched to corresponding items on the opposite side. (20 Tickets per complete game, max about 41,000 Tickets)
Dingbats — Players solve a puzzle and may guess letters, similar to Hangman. (3 Tickets per complete game, max 2,673 Tickets)
Flexicon — A crossword-like game. (25 Tickets per complete game, max 63,500 Tickets)
Quote a Pillar — A game in which players spell out famous quotes using the letters provided. (4 Tickets per complete game)
Seekadoo — A word search game. (15 Tickets per complete game)
Spelling Bee — Players are given seven letters from which to form words; similar to Chicktionary. (20 Tickets per complete game, max about 34,700)
Taxi Wrangler — A time management game consisting of three rounds. (30 Tickets per complete game)
Trivia Bound — A multiplayer trivia contest consisting of five rounds of questions. Players score points by inputting answers that rank the highest on a Bing search query.
Word Slugger — Players are given seven letters from which to form words; similar to Chicktionary. (20 Tickets per complete game, max about 34,700)
Prizesedit
Tickets earned in Club Bing games could be exchanged for prizes.[6] Each reward was delivered within twelve weeks from the date redemption request is fully processed, unless stated otherwise. Prizes had to be earned by obtaining the required number of tickets. There was no option to purchase additional tickets. Tickets had no cash value. There was a limit of one item per household (based on account holder address) of each hardware and software product, and they could only be shipped in the United States.[7] Microsoft did not charge users for the cost of shipping their prizes.[8] Prizes were subject to change.
As part of Microsoft's Search and Give program, tickets earned in Club Bing could also be donated to schools, libraries, wildlife preserves, conservation initiatives, hospitals, museums, and charities.[9]
Exploitationedit
As with many online based promotions, there were ways to exploit the puzzles because the answers were easily solvable anagrams. Many users used automatic anagram solvers and manually inputted the answers. However, programmers quickly began making bots for Club Bing that automatically entered all of the anagrams to all of the puzzles. After Club Bing set daily limits, many of the programmers would create numerous accounts and max each of them out daily. The botters had a massive amount of success and soon many users were using automated programs instead of manually playing the games. Some notable bots were theBug, Nuke, ICHC, CBX, CLDL, and Chicken.
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Club Bing news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Club Bing previously Live Search Club was a group of online word games by Microsoft that lasted from April 2007 to May 2012 Players who completed or partially completed a game earned tickets originally up to 1000 per day then later reduced to 500 1 that could be exchanged for Microsoft or other products The site was credited with a significant increase in market share for the search engine Bing 2 Screenshot of Live Search Club prior to the rebrand to Bing Club Bing had also opened up to allow users to send a percentage of tickets earned in a game to a charity or school of their choice Many local charities schools and organizations are represented to users On February 15 2012 Microsoft announced that Club Bing would close on May 31 2012 Actual gameplay ended on May 15 2012 prize redemption ended on May 31 3 Contents 1 Bing 2 Games 3 Prizes 4 Exploitation 5 See also 6 ReferencesBing editMain article Bing search engine While playing the games players may request hints which consist of searches on the Bing search engine Every time a player submits an answer correct or incorrect a search query is generated The site had succeeded in helping increase the market share of Live Search from 8 4 in May 2007 to 13 2 in June 4 Games edit nbsp Blockdot original founders in their first office in 2002Many of the games for Club Bing were built by Blockdot a defunct branded entertainment and game studio based in Dallas Texas United States Blockdot was founded in March 2001 by Michael Bielinski Dan Ferguson and Jason McMinn In August 2005 it was purchased by Media General 5 By 2016 the company was no longer in business citation needed This list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items February 2011 Banana Shuffle A game in which players transform one word to another by changing one letter at a time 2 Tickets per complete game max 622 Tickets Chicktionary Players are given seven letters from which to form words A multiplayer option was recently added 20 Tickets per complete single player game max about 34 700 Clink A phrase matching game 10 Tickets per complete game Coffee Break Game sampler consisting of short versions of Chicktionary Crosswire and Clink 20 Tickets per complete three round game max about 3 300 Tickets CrossWire A game in which items on one side must be matched to corresponding items on the opposite side 20 Tickets per complete game max about 41 000 Tickets Dingbats Players solve a puzzle and may guess letters similar to Hangman 3 Tickets per complete game max 2 673 Tickets Flexicon A crossword like game 25 Tickets per complete game max 63 500 Tickets Quote a Pillar A game in which players spell out famous quotes using the letters provided 4 Tickets per complete game Seekadoo A word search game 15 Tickets per complete game Spelling Bee Players are given seven letters from which to form words similar to Chicktionary 20 Tickets per complete game max about 34 700 Taxi Wrangler A time management game consisting of three rounds 30 Tickets per complete game Trivia Bound A multiplayer trivia contest consisting of five rounds of questions Players score points by inputting answers that rank the highest on a Bing search query Word Slugger Players are given seven letters from which to form words similar to Chicktionary 20 Tickets per complete game max about 34 700 Prizes editTickets earned in Club Bing games could be exchanged for prizes 6 Each reward was delivered within twelve weeks from the date redemption request is fully processed unless stated otherwise Prizes had to be earned by obtaining the required number of tickets There was no option to purchase additional tickets Tickets had no cash value There was a limit of one item per household based on account holder address of each hardware and software product and they could only be shipped in the United States 7 Microsoft did not charge users for the cost of shipping their prizes 8 Prizes were subject to change As part of Microsoft s Search and Give program tickets earned in Club Bing could also be donated to schools libraries wildlife preserves conservation initiatives hospitals museums and charities 9 Exploitation editAs with many online based promotions there were ways to exploit the puzzles because the answers were easily solvable anagrams Many users used automatic anagram solvers and manually inputted the answers However programmers quickly began making bots for Club Bing that automatically entered all of the anagrams to all of the puzzles After Club Bing set daily limits many of the programmers would create numerous accounts and max each of them out daily The botters had a massive amount of success and soon many users were using automated programs instead of manually playing the games Some notable bots were theBug Nuke ICHC CBX CLDL and Chicken See also editMSN GamesReferences edit Club Bing Help Promotion aids rise in Microsoft search queries 14 July 2007 Club Bing has Ended Clubbing com Retrieved on 2013 07 21 Microsoft Buys Its Way to More Searches WebProNews Archived from the original on 2009 02 07 Retrieved 2009 06 01 STEPHANIE STOUGHTON 2005 08 16 Media General Buys advergaming Business AP Online HighBeam Research Archived from the original on 2016 02 24 Retrieved 2012 08 07 Club Bing Prizes https club live com get prizes aspx Archived 2008 02 23 at the Wayback Machine http club live com Pages about about aspx tab faq OSTQ3 Section 6 How to Donate Tickets to Charity http www clubbing com Pages About TermsAndConditions aspx Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Club Bing amp oldid 1153884040, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
