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App Store Reaches Milestone: One Billion Apps Downloaded

The rules explained-Once again

ARK said:
The rules for the billionth app promotion were confusing. My co-worker and I were led to believe that anyone who purchases an app or fills out the form online has a chance to win the contest. With the contest now ended Apple claims that a 13-year old downloaded the billionth app and therefore has won the contest. The very circumstance in which he won by downloading the billionth app doesn't match with what the rules state.
Click to expand...
The Rules:
Timing. The Promotion shall run from 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10, 2009 and ends with the downloading of the 1 billionth app (“Promotion Period”). For purposes of the Promotion, the downloading of the 1 billionth app is considered to be either the downloading of the 1 billionth app from iTunes or the receipt of the non-purchase entry after the download of the 999,999,999th app, whichever comes first.
This is a legal requirement to tell everybody when the contest is over. Nowhere does it say a drawing or the winner will be picked at random!!!

How to Enter. There are three ways to enter the Promotion:
You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store.
You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store using your iPhone or iPod touch.
Non-purchase method: Go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/billion-...own/entryform/, fully complete an online entry, including your name, complete mailing address (P.O. Boxes not acceptable), telephone number, and birth date. Once your online entry is complete, hit the “Submit” button to submit an entry. Entry via this method constitutes one (1) entry into the Promotion.
This is a legal requirement. Giveaways have to have a non-purchase method, or they become a lottery, with some state prohibit. The form is simply your way to play without purchase and make this legal in all states.

Limit: Regardless of which method of entry is used to enter the Promotion, only twenty-five (25) entries per person and/or iTunes account and/or email address, per day will be granted. The use of any automated launching or entry software or any other means that permits the entrant to automatically enter repeatedly or in excess of the entry limitations is prohibited.

This is for when it gets close to 1B. If they find out you entered 100 times on the day 1B downloads are hit, you are disqualified. Same for submitting more than 25 entry forms. I think this is to prevent the whole system crashing as it nears 1B. This will prevent people setting up a program to submit/download 1000 free apps as the time approaches

Sweepstakes. Sponsor is the sole judging organization whose decisions as to the operation of the Sweepstakes and the selection of the potential winner are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. The prize will be awarded for the entry (either through an app download or through the non-purchase online entry) sent immediately following the download of the 999,999,999th app. The potential winner will be determined by the order of the entries received. In the event that more than one entrant would be a winner based on the simultaneous timing of entries, one entrant will be randomly selected from those entrants as the winner. Each entrant’s chances of winning are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received.

Please read:
THE WINNER IS THE PERSON WHO DOWNLOADS THE 1 BILLIONITH APP OR THE PERSON WHO SUBMITS THE FORM AFTER THE 999,999,999 APP WAS DOWNLOADED. NO LUCKY DIP!!! NO RANDOM DRAWING. NO INCREASING YOUR ODDS BY DOWNLOADING?FILLING OUT MORE FORMS. DOWNLOADING AN APP ONLY GETS THE NUMBER CLOSER TO 1B.

No where does it say that it is a random draw. You do enter the drawing by downloading an app, you just happen to be the 1,000,000,000 - #app you downloaded loser of the contest. The person that downloaded app 999,999,999 was the 1st runner up or 1 loser. By downloading you enter the contest and helped that person win.
 
Okay, but...

mackensteff said:
No where does it say that it is a random draw. You do enter the drawing by downloading an app, you just happen to be the 1,000,000,000 - #app you downloaded loser of the contest. The person that downloaded app 999,999,999 was the 1st runner up or 1 loser. By downloading you enter the contest and helped that person win.
Click to expand...

Okay, but obviously Apple's promotional communication of this was somehow poor. A lot of people -- myself included -- incorrectly thought that the drawing would be random and that all downloaders during the contest period had an equal chance of winning. Why did we think this?
 
TheSlush said:
Okay, but obviously Apple's promotional communication of this was somehow poor. A lot of people -- myself included -- incorrectly thought that the drawing would be random and that all downloaders during the contest period had an equal chance of winning. Why did we think this?
Click to expand...

I don't know why you thought that... it was quite clear.
 
TheSlush said:
Okay, but obviously Apple's promotional communication of this was somehow poor. A lot of people -- myself included -- incorrectly thought that the drawing would be random and that all downloaders during the contest period had an equal chance of winning. Why did we think this?
Click to expand...

I emailed them complaining of this several days ago, but suprise suprise they never replied (yet, anyway)
It really is quite misleading.
 
mackensteff said:
No where does it say that it is a random draw. You do enter the drawing by downloading an app, you just happen to be the 1,000,000,000 - #app you downloaded loser of the contest. The person that downloaded app 999,999,999 was the 1st runner up or 1 loser. By downloading you enter the contest and helped that person win.
Click to expand...

Then why are you even confused to the point where you are using the words enter and drawing??? If they had left out the language about entries then there wouldn't be any confusion.

How to Enter.
There are three ways to enter the Promotion:
  1. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store.
  2. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store using your iPhone or iPod touch.
  3. Non-purchase method: Go to www.apple.com/itunes/billion-app-countdown/entryform/, fully complete an online entry, including your name, complete mailing address (P.O. Boxes not acceptable), telephone number, and birth date. Once your online entry is complete, hit the “Submit” button to submit an entry. Entry via this method constitutes one (1) entry into the Promotion.

I just don't think the word enter was a good choice for describing this. Especially since on April 10th we were NO WHERE NEAR the billionth app download. Therefore for the first week or so of the contest all of the entries had ZERO chance of winning. The only ones that had a chance were the ones that "entered" when the counter was really close to 1,000,000,000 because we didn't know exactly how close we were.
 
Treq said:
I don't know why you thought that... it was quite clear.
Click to expand...

It may not have been misleading but by definition it wasn't clear. The facts speak for themselves. Many people thought they meant something different upon first read of the rules. I'm not sure what your definition of clear is but the one I'm reading includes the following:
leaving no doubt; obvious or unambiguous
Click to expand...

So try again.
 
frankly said:
Then why are you even confused to the point where you are using the words enter and drawing??? If they had left out the language about entries then there wouldn't be any confusion.

How to Enter.
There are three ways to enter the Promotion:
  1. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store.
  2. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store using your iPhone or iPod touch.
  3. Non-purchase method: Go to www.apple.com/itunes/billion-app-countdown/entryform/, fully complete an online entry, including your name, complete mailing address (P.O. Boxes not acceptable), telephone number, and birth date. Once your online entry is complete, hit the “Submit” button to submit an entry. Entry via this method constitutes one (1) entry into the Promotion.

I just don't think the word enter was a good choice for describing this. Especially since on April 10th we were NO WHERE NEAR the billionth app download. Therefore for the first week or so of the contest all of the entries had ZERO chance of winning. The only ones that had a chance were the ones that "entered" when the counter was really close to 1,000,000,000 because we didn't know exactly how close we were.
Click to expand...

You forgot to add how they were going to choose the winning entry... 1st one after 999,999,999th. Can't get clearer than that.
 
Comprehension FAIL.

frankly said:
Then why are you even confused to the point where you are using the words enter and drawing??? If they had left out the language about entries then there wouldn't be any confusion.

How to Enter.
There are three ways to enter the Promotion:
  1. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store.
  2. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store using your iPhone or iPod touch.
  3. Non-purchase method: Go to www.apple.com/itunes/billion-app-countdown/entryform/, fully complete an online entry, including your name, complete mailing address (P.O. Boxes not acceptable), telephone number, and birth date. Once your online entry is complete, hit the “Submit” button to submit an entry. Entry via this method constitutes one (1) entry into the Promotion.

I just don't think the word enter was a good choice for describing this. Especially since on April 10th we were NO WHERE NEAR the billionth app download. Therefore for the first week or so of the contest all of the entries had ZERO chance of winning. The only ones that had a chance were the ones that "entered" when the counter was really close to 1,000,000,000 because we didn't know exactly how close we were.
Click to expand...
:D
 
Explanation WIN!

mackensteff said:
The Rules:
Timing. The Promotion shall run from 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10, 2009 and ends with the downloading of the 1 billionth app (“Promotion Period”). For purposes of the Promotion, the downloading of the 1 billionth app is considered to be either the downloading of the 1 billionth app from iTunes or the receipt of the non-purchase entry after the download of the 999,999,999th app, whichever comes first.
This is a legal requirement to tell everybody when the contest is over. Nowhere does it say a drawing or the winner will be picked at random!!!

How to Enter. There are three ways to enter the Promotion:
You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store.
You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by downloading an app from the App Store using your iPhone or iPod touch.
Non-purchase method: Go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/billion-...own/entryform/, fully complete an online entry, including your name, complete mailing address (P.O. Boxes not acceptable), telephone number, and birth date. Once your online entry is complete, hit the “Submit” button to submit an entry. Entry via this method constitutes one (1) entry into the Promotion.
This is a legal requirement. Giveaways have to have a non-purchase method, or they become a lottery, with some state prohibit. The form is simply your way to play without purchase and make this legal in all states.

Limit: Regardless of which method of entry is used to enter the Promotion, only twenty-five (25) entries per person and/or iTunes account and/or email address, per day will be granted. The use of any automated launching or entry software or any other means that permits the entrant to automatically enter repeatedly or in excess of the entry limitations is prohibited.

This is for when it gets close to 1B. If they find out you entered 100 times on the day 1B downloads are hit, you are disqualified. Same for submitting more than 25 entry forms. I think this is to prevent the whole system crashing as it nears 1B. This will prevent people setting up a program to submit/download 1000 free apps as the time approaches

Sweepstakes. Sponsor is the sole judging organization whose decisions as to the operation of the Sweepstakes and the selection of the potential winner are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. The prize will be awarded for the entry (either through an app download or through the non-purchase online entry) sent immediately following the download of the 999,999,999th app. The potential winner will be determined by the order of the entries received. In the event that more than one entrant would be a winner based on the simultaneous timing of entries, one entrant will be randomly selected from those entrants as the winner. Each entrant’s chances of winning are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received.

Please read:
THE WINNER IS THE PERSON WHO DOWNLOADS THE 1 BILLIONITH APP OR THE PERSON WHO SUBMITS THE FORM AFTER THE 999,999,999 APP WAS DOWNLOADED. NO LUCKY DIP!!! NO RANDOM DRAWING. NO INCREASING YOUR ODDS BY DOWNLOADING?FILLING OUT MORE FORMS. DOWNLOADING AN APP ONLY GETS THE NUMBER CLOSER TO 1B.

No where does it say that it is a random draw. You do enter the drawing by downloading an app, you just happen to be the 1,000,000,000 - #app you downloaded loser of the contest. The person that downloaded app 999,999,999 was the 1st runner up or 1 loser. By downloading you enter the contest and helped that person win.
Click to expand...
:D
 
Read post 152

Some may wonder why I have been so adamant about the rules. They are clear. If you have ever read the fine details of any contest these statements are all legally required. How the prize is won is always clearly spelled out. The problem is people stopped reading. You did enter the contest by downloading an app. You just don't win unless you are person 1B. So thanks for playing, but the rules are clear, the perception is not. Perception is not Apples problem. From experience there is always that one person that will select option C on a test even if you state the correct answer is B. (Yes that is a true story.)
 
mackensteff said:
Some may wonder why I have been so adamant about the rules. They are clear. If you have ever read the fine details of any contest these statements are all legally required. How the prize is won is always clearly spelled out. The problem is people stopped reading. You did enter the contest by downloading an app. You just don't win unless you are person 1B. So thanks for playing, but the rules are clear, the perception is not. Perception is not Apples problem. From experience there is always that one person that will select option C on a test even if you state the correct answer is B. (Yes that is a true story.)
Click to expand...

FTW!:p
 
Treq said:
You forgot to add how they were going to choose the winning entry... 1st one after 999,999,999th. Can't get clearer than that.
Click to expand...

I didn't forget to add in anything. I think that if we took a poll of those who participated it would be at least half, but more likely a clear majority, that did NOT read the entire set of rules. Those that did read it at all probably just skimmed to the parts they thought were important. If you read the part I quoted without reading the part you said I forgot to add then you would EASILY think that your multiple "entries" would count as chances to win.

That is why it is not clear, by definition. The fact that the other part spelled out how the winner was determined was not misleading, which is why I specifically distinguished this fact by saying that the rules were not misleading but they were not clear either.
 
mackensteff said:
Some may wonder why I have been so adamant about the rules. They are clear. If you have ever read the fine details of any contest these statements are all legally required. How the prize is won is always clearly spelled out. The problem is people stopped reading. You did enter the contest by downloading an app. You just don't win unless you are person 1B. So thanks for playing, but the rules are clear, the perception is not. Perception is not Apples problem. From experience there is always that one person that will select option C on a test even if you state the correct answer is B. (Yes that is a true story.)
Click to expand...

The part that is unclear is the fact that they call it an entry when there is ZERO chance of winning. If I enter a contest on day 1 I should have the same chance of winning as someone that enters on the last day. Otherwise my participation isn't really an entry into the contest. Everyone that downloaded an app during the first week or so had what they did called entries by Apple but they had ZERO chance of winning. Therefore, they were not entered into the contest. I'm not sure how much clearer that can be... :rolleyes:
 
frankly said:
I didn't forget to add in anything. I think that if we took a poll of those who participated it would be at least half, but more likely a clear majority, that did NOT read the entire set of rules. Those that did read it at all probably just skimmed to the parts they thought were important. If you read the part I quoted without reading the part you said I forgot to add then you would EASILY think that your multiple "entries" would count as chances to win.

That is why it is not clear, by definition. The fact that the other part spelled out how the winner was determined was not misleading, which is why I specifically distinguished this fact by saying that the rules were not misleading but they were not clear either.
Click to expand...

I didn't even read the rules until the contest was over and I knew how it worked. This is not about apple's clarity. It's about a small # (most likely) of people who didn't get a 1 Billionth download contest... Really, blame yourself, not apple.
 
frankly said:
The part that is unclear is the fact that they call it an entry when there is ZERO chance of winning. If I enter a contest on day 1 I should have the same chance of winning as someone that enters on the last day. Otherwise my participation isn't really an entry into the contest. Everyone that downloaded an app during the first week or so had what they did called entries by Apple but they had ZERO chance of winning. Therefore, they were not entered into the contest. I'm not sure how much clearer that can be... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Zero? no, if they had reached it on day one you might have won. But they didn't get that many downloads that day...
 
Treq said:
I didn't even read the rules until the contest was over and I knew how it worked. This is not about apple's clarity. It's about a small # (most likely) of people who didn't get a 1 Billionth download contest... Really, blame yourself, not apple.
Click to expand...

Assumptions only serve to make you look ridiculous.

1) You figured it out by not reading the rules because in past contests that Apple has run with song downloads they have made it VERY CLEAR that it would be the person that downloaded the whatever number song that would win. There was no ambiguity whatsoever. So you assumed it was the same this time.
2) This contest was unclear because they purposely created an opening date and time for this contest and asked people to start downloading apps to participate even though we weren't even close to the point when they had a chance to win.
3) I don't care that I lost. I did not complain about not winning. That would be silly. Even if the contest operated in the way some of us though my chances would be slim, at best.
4) You have NO idea how many people misunderstood so don't claim to know that it was a small number. Again, it makes you look small.
 
Treq said:
Zero? no, if they had reached it on day one you might have won. But they didn't get that many downloads that day...
Click to expand...

This was obvious by the counter on Apple's front page that they not only weren't going to reach it on day one but that they weren't even going to come close on day one. All you had to do was watch the counter for a minute to know this. You are really reaching now.
 
frankly said:
Assumptions only serve to make you look ridiculous.

1) You figured it out by not reading the rules because in past contests that Apple has run with song downloads they have made it VERY CLEAR that it would be the person that downloaded the whatever number song that would win. There was no ambiguity whatsoever. So you assumed it was the same this time.
2) This contest was unclear because they purposely created an opening date and time for this contest and asked people to start downloading apps to participate even though we weren't even close to the point when they had a chance to win.
3) I don't care that I lost. I did not complain about not winning. That would be silly. Even if the contest operated in the way some of us though my chances would be slim, at best.
4) You have NO idea how many people misunderstood so don't claim to know that it was a small number. Again, it makes you look small.
Click to expand...

1) No, I figured it out by watching a sitcom from the 70's or 80's or 90's
2) Not unclear, they started the contest on a date they knew they didn't have 1,000,000,000 downloads yet, and if they had a dramatic increase in downloads, the contest would have been won then.
3) No, you are complaining about the rules being unclear, which they weren't (I checked)
4) neither do you... this is why I said (most likely) My opinion....
 
frankly said:
This was obvious by the counter on Apple's front page that they not only weren't going to reach it on day one but that they weren't even going to come close on day one. All you had to do was watch the counter for a minute to know this. You are really reaching now.
Click to expand...

Not reaching. Contest was very clear. Those who didn't get it need to look deep into themselves and ask; Why?
 
frankly said:
I didn't forget to add in anything. I think that if we took a poll of those who participated it would be at least half, but more likely a clear majority, that did NOT read the entire set of rules. Those that did read it at all probably just skimmed to the parts they thought were important. If you read the part I quoted without reading the part you said I forgot to add then you would EASILY think that your multiple "entries" would count as chances to win.

That is why it is not clear, by definition. The fact that the other part spelled out how the winner was determined was not misleading, which is why I specifically distinguished this fact by saying that the rules were not misleading but they were not clear either.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't make assumptions about how many were "misled". Makes you look small...
 
frankly said:
The part that is unclear is the fact that they call it an entry when there is ZERO chance of winning. If I enter a contest on day 1 I should have the same chance of winning as someone that enters on the last day. Otherwise my participation isn't really an entry into the contest. Everyone that downloaded an app during the first week or so had what they did called entries by Apple but they had ZERO chance of winning. Therefore, they were not entered into the contest. I'm not sure how much clearer that can be... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Completely agree, it was the fact that they said "download an app for a chance to win....." when at the start of the contest you effectively had zero 'chance' of winning
 
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