My Number One Competition Annoyance - Automated Entries
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A bit of a rant here, but I feel as if it's justified.
WeWin4U is one of many automatic competition enterers available today. You pay a subscription for a 3 month, 6 month or 12 month period and it uses a script or a bot to enter competitions for you and according to the website it can even get around the Captchas and can answer questions correctly.
Whilst us genuine compers have to spend hours a day and hard work in order to get a decent win, with these automatic entries people don't need to lift a single finger. This really is so unfair for both compers and promoters alike.
According to Loquax, a single competition can receive as high as 27,000 automated entries. I strongly believe that if it wasn't for these automated entries, many of us genuine compers would win more prizes.
I do wish promoters would use stronger tactics as a way to help prevent these automated entries.
Here is just one example of a competition which receives (most likely thousands) of automated entries.
Rant over. 
It does seem to fly in the face of fairness.
And although I sometimes get bored with entering competitions I still feel that entering each one individually is a fair price to pay for a potential win.
Gosh I didn't even know they existed. Do you think the numbers have recently surged as it would explain why I have not had a win for a good many months now. Before I could get roughly one per month even if it was only a book or dvd. I don't think I will bother with comps any more, I have probably used up my comping luck anyway.
It's sad that you are considering on giving up on comping after so many years. 
And I do certainly believe that the number of bot entries have risen over the years. Until promoters enforce stricter rules regarding this, those bot entries will sadly continue to increase.
Fortunately, there are however some competitions which state in their terms and conditions that automated entries get disqualified. We just need all the others to follow suit.
I look on entering competitions as a hobby. It’s relaxing and the anticipation of a win keeps me going! Applying via an automated entry just seems so mercenary and takes all the fun out of the process. Like Lynibis, I haven’t had a win for many months now. I am angry to think of someone using the automated system winning prizes they may not even want! A valid rant RegularComper90 !
I had no idea about this sort of thing! This has really annoyed me! I enter comps during my very limited free time, it is a hobby and something I enjoy. Any win is an added bonus but this kind of thing really is annoying, plus it takes the fun out of it.
I only enter competitions from companies I am a customer of, or have a strong interest in, usually when I'm informed of the competition in email circulars from the companies, It annoys me when sites (no names mentioned) publicise those comps vastly reducing my chances of winning, very often even answers to questions are encouraged from those posting them.
Here's my prediction: If video killed the radio star, it's competion sites that will kill the competitions.
Ask yourselves: Why will companies donate prizes when there is little or no commercial value to them for doing so?
I don't enter for free or with these. But I guess you're paying with your time and others are paying with money. You're both paying in some way.
The hard part is knowing how reliable such a website is. How do you know which competitions you are entering? How to tell if your entries were not undone by using scripts, etc., etc.
As stated above by MeestairChrees time is money, if the website runs 100%, it would be financially worth it, but personally I don't trust it at all.
Even if I thought those things were ethical, I still wouldn't be able to trust them either. Scripts and programs can easily malfunction just like all other technology. I also like to be the one in charge in what I am doing and enter the competitions which I actually want to enter.
Hi Again, this post has got me a bit worried. You will know me of old now and I am not the most technologically minded person so here is my question:
I do some comps when sitting on my tablet and as I type predictive text comes up just like when texting on phone. Of course I use it as it is quicker. Secondly, when on my main pc it is even better because I just click on first box and the whole lot comes up and if I click it is all filled in.....even quicker. Does this mean I am one of these dreadful people who are doing automated entries?
Surely it doesn't make any difference whether it takes 5 seconds or 5 minutes to complete the form (especially when time is an issue), but I am not cheating anyone and would enter anyway. Is this ok?
Lynibis don't think that "necessarily" counts as an automated entry, from something I read, and posted about before, automatic entries might be detected by the time spent on the site when entering the competition. (which seems quite logical) If that is correct the use of auto fill for personal details MIGHT make the visit shorter, which MIGHT have an entry deemed as automated, but it MIGHT be that as long as your visit is longer than a fully automated entry would take things might be OK.
Someone, I forgot who, who hadn't had any wins for some time, said they would take a little more time or go to different windows for each comp (staying on each site longer) to see if they started winning again. If they see this they might comment.
Thanks ever so for that davidstockport . It makes perfect sense and I must say I do whizz through the comps as there are so many, and that is missing out ones I do not want to win!
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