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| iWon Winner Gets Rich on the Double |
| One lucky net surfer collects $2 million – twice the usual prize – as the giveaway site's popularity soars
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| September 12, 2000
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SEATTLE (Reuters) – Sweepstakes Internet portal iWon.com, which gives cash prizes to Web surfers using its site, said on Tuesday it is paying a $2 million prize to a Washington state woman who doubled the usual monthly giveaway through a special promotion.
Mary Johnston of Kenmore, Wash., became the 11th person to collect a million-dollar prize from iWon, which is rapidly building a huge following with its daily, monthly and yearly cash prizes.
Johnston raked in an extra $1 million for signing up for a long-distance telephone promotion with Sprint Corp. (FON.N), iWon said.
Launched about 11 months ago with backing from CBS Corp., the U.S. television network recently bought by entertainment giant Viacom Inc. (VIA.N), iWon gives away $10,000 a day, $1,000 weekly prizes, a $1 million monthly prize, and plans to award a $10 million yearly prize.
The more visitors who use the site, which offers news, sports, weather and other content, the more often they are entered in the giveaways. The Irvington, N.Y.-based company has so far given away $25 million in prizes.
Although iWon was a late entry to the portal market, coming years behind the likes of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Lycos Inc. (LCOS), the site has quickly built steam, becoming the 25th most-visited Web site as of July, according to Web statistics group Media Metrix .
It is also the second "stickiest" site after online auction company eBay Inc. (EBAY)., according to Nielsen-Net Ratings, which issued its first-ever Internet traffic report in August. Stickiness refers to how long visitors stay at a particular site.
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